Dream Eater
by TheEighthDeadlySin
Summary: Ever since that time in the third grade, I knew I was different. SHIELD knew too. So they kept tabs on me, until the time came when they knew they would need me. Reluctant at first, I eventually gave in. I'm glad that I did. Steve/OC
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

_I was sitting alone at the end of the playground while the rest of my third grade class enjoyed recess. I tried to stay as far from them as possible, hoping they would just ignore me. Most days this was true, but some days I wasn't so lucky. Some days I was their target for cruel words and actions._

_Today was going to be one of those days._

_I sat with my back to the playground, drawing in the dirt with a stick. I didn't notice them approaching from behind until my face was already in the dirt, ruining my drawing._

"_What are you doing over here stupid?"_

"_She's so weird."_

"_What's a matter weirdo? Why don't you have any friends?"_

_I pushed myself up, tears brimming in my eyes. It wasn't uncommon for me to get pushed down and have mean things said to me by my classmates, but it didn't make it hurt any less. I stood up and faced them defiantly, willing the tears not to spill over and make me look weak._

"_Aww look she's gonna cry! What a baby!"_

That was the day it happened. Everything about my life was about to change forever.

_I gave them the hardest glare I could muster without crying, anger welling up in me. They just laughed and pointed, further fueling my hatred for them. I began taking deep breaths, but instead of calming me it had the opposite effect. I got angrier and angrier until I could almost taste it._

'_I wish they would just leave me alone. I wish I could show them! I wish I could just push THEM over!' As soon as I finished that thought, an invisible force knocked all three of them over. Almost like a strong gust of wind. They all looked at me with fear in their eyes before they took off back to their friends._

_I liked to have thought it was coincidence. After that day however, more and more of those coincidences occurred. It was almost as if when I willed it hard enough, I could make things happen._

I had no idea how right I was.

**Chapter 1**

I walked through the sidewalks on my way home, blending with the rest of the foot traffic. The streets of Chicago were always busy no matter the time of day. I owned a car, but most of the time I was just better off walking. The streets are always jam packed with drivers, especially during rush hour. I could usually make it to and from my destinations quicker on foot.

Besides the obvious benefits to walking, it provided me with one other advantage; blending in. I was much harder to pick out of a tightly packed sidewalk than in my vehicle. I'm not trying to hide out of fear, oh no. I'm not afraid of anyone. I'm trying to hide out of irritation. For weeks now I've been avoiding these government agents that refuse to take no for an answer. It's getting really annoying.

About a month ago I was on my way out of work when an official looking man in a nice suit approached me. At first I was slightly concerned, not sure what someone like him wanted with me. He introduced himself as Agent Phil Coulson, from the something or other something something agency that I had never heard of, nor cared about. He demanded to speak to me in private and wouldn't stop following me.

By the time I got tired of his persistence and agreed to indulge him just to shut him up, we were already only a block from my apartment. I told him to follow me, not like he wasn't already, and lead him to my apartment complex. He finally shut up and after a quiet elevator ride to the 13th floor, I unlocked my door and he followed me inside.

He proceeded to tell me about a new program they were trying out called the Avengers Initiative. He called it a defense program but it sounded like the government's personal collection of fighters to me. Wondering why I would even be looked at for something like this, I told him my only fighting experience was in martial arts, and even that was rudimentary.

"_I think you have the wrong girl Agent Coulson, the only experience I have is in martial arts and that's only a green belt." That probably came out with a little more derision than necessary, but they clearly haven't done their homework if they thought I could do anything for them._

"_We know a lot more about you than you think Ms. Farrelly." He removed a file from his briefcase and pushed it into my hands, gesturing for me to open it. I quirked my eyebrow at him but did as he asked, and my breath caught in my throat as I read the first few lines. I looked back at him with anger written on my face._

"_What the hell is this!?" his smirk only made me angrier as I read on._

"_We've been watching you for a long time Shea. Don't think we don't know all about you." Agent Coulson's eyes held sincerity as I looked from him to the file, then back to him and the file again._

"_Get out." I was angry, oh so angry. "I don't know how you got this information or why you've been tailing me for what looks like years, but I want you to leave. NOW." My tone was quiet but dangerous. I glared at him and walked towards the door while saying this and he backed up, never breaking eye contact._

"_Fine, I'll go for now. But think about it. Director Fury doesn't take no for an answer, so I will be back."_

He kept true to his word, and was waiting for me outside my door the next evening when I returned home. I told him to shove off as I entered my apartment and slammed my door in his face before he could say anything. It's been like this almost every day since then. Some days he would be outside my door before I even left in the morning, following me to work. Sometimes he would follow me home. He even harassed me in the middle of my shift once. This guy had some nerve.

I had yet to see him today, which meant he would most likely be waiting outside my door when I got home. I was right. The second the elevator doors opened to the 13th floor, there he was. I REALLY regretted letting him in my apartment that day. I hurried to press the door close button, to get anywhere but where he was. Lucky me, he closed the gap before the doors shut entirely and put his foot in to stop them.

"Shea, you really need to stop avoiding me. You're only making it more difficult for the both of us." I skirted around him and made a beeline for my door. "Come on Shea, why wouldn't you want to make use of your talents? You could be helping people!" He shouted that last sentence through the door that now separated us. I heard him sigh in exasperation as I leaned on the other side of the door. This guy really did not give up. Though by the exhaustion I could see in his eyes I could tell it was out of the command of his boss, probably the Fury guy he was talking about.

I made sure the door was locked as I shed my jacket and dropped my keys on the table. I stopped to glance at the file he had given me, before turning toward my kitchen. I read the rest of it after I kicked him out that night. It unnerved me how much they knew about me, about my entire life. They knew everything from the first day I displayed my power in the third grade, all the way through the _incident_ in high school. I huffed as I explored the meager contents of my fridge. 'Guess it's ramen noodles again tonight.' I knew Coulson was still outside my door as I boiled the noodles and wondered if he would ever give up. 'Not likely.' I told myself.

I settled down on my threadbare couch and turned on the TV. Just as I began digging into my noodles Coulson's voice traveled through my door.

"I know you can hear me, so just hear me out. Why not use your abilities to help people? You have a rare talent not many can claim to have. What's more, you're REALLY good at it. Exceptionally good. The best. That's why Director Fury wants you, and won't give up until he gets what he wants. You live a meager life working a minimum wage job and can barely afford to feed yourself. What have you got to lose? What are you afraid of?" The look of surprise on his face when I tore open the door was almost worth a smile. Almost.

"How are you going to stroke my ego and insult me in the same breath? I'm not afraid of any ONE or any THING! What will it take to make you leave me alone?" I realize sometimes it's hard to be intimidating when you're only five feet tall, but I should have been able to scare him off weeks ago. Yet here he stands, smirking down at me.

"Come with me." I stared at him for a moment, weighing my options. Stay here living the meager life he so kindly had to remind me of with him harassing me for the rest of my days, or go with him to wherever.

'It might not be so bad, maybe I'm due for a little adventure in my life. This certainly wasn't getting me anywhere.' I looked back to my shabby almost bare apartment. Picking up my keys and my jacket, I locked the door behind me. His smile couldn't have been bigger, and I just rolled my eyes.

"Lead the way, Agent."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As we stepped into the elevator, Coulson pulled out his cell phone to make a call. The elevator was quiet so I could hear the person on the other end answer.

"_You better have good news for me Agent."_

"Yes sir, we're on our way. We should arrive within the next few hours."

"_About time Agent. Took you a damn month."_

Whoever was on the other end hung up after that, and Coulson sighed slipping the phone back into his pocket.

"Was that the Fury guy you're always talking about?" Coulson gave me an obvious look as we stepped out of the elevator and crossed the lobby. "I can see where he gets the name." The agent just snorted a small laugh and led me out to his car.

Nick Fury grumbled as he snapped his phone shut. It was about damn time his agent got back with the girl. He knew he should have sent someone else, but knowing the girl's history anything more threatening than a man in a suit may have caused a mess he was not ready to clean up.

Now that his last team member was finally on her way, he could continue his plan. He called the rest of the Avengers into the board room for a meeting.

Most of them had already been on the helicarrier for a couple of weeks now and have gotten to know each other. Tony and Bruce had become 'science bros' as Tony put it, and spent all of their days in the lab together trying to locate the Tesseract. Natasha was mostly out on missions gathering intel about the enemy and trying to regain her compromised partner, the latter of which she had no success on thus far. Steve mostly kept to himself and trained in the gym, and had found out quickly that he did not like Tony at all. He thought he was an arrogant, egotistical, self centered ass. Nevertheless he had to endure being in the same room as him when Director Fury called them all for a meeting.

"After being set back a couple of weeks we can finally move on with the mission. Our last team member is being delivered by Agent Coulson as we speak and should arrive within the next few hours. Any luck locating the Tesseract so far?" He looked to where Bruce and Tony sat on one side of the table.

"Nothing yet but we still have a few more tricks up our sleeves. You said another team member? Who is it? What's he like? He better not be as handsome as me because I don't think this ship could handle any more sexy than it already has."

"Can you ever not think about your looks for one minute Stark or are you really that vain?" Steve said irritably. Tony never failed to say something stupid and Steve just wished he would shut up.

"I'm sorry, was I asking you Capsicle? Because I'm pretty sure I was talking about young handsome men not old farts so I don't see where your input comes to play here." Steve stood up so fast the chair flipped beneath him, but before he could retort Fury interjected.

"Enough both of you! Agent Coulson will be here this evening with new Agent Farrelly. Any questions can be asked then." Fury dismissed them to return to whatever they were doing.

"Agent Farrelly huh?" Tony smiled deviously. "Come on science bro, we've got files to hack."

The car ride was a short one to the O' Hare airport where I assumed we would be taking a plane. That's what people do at airports right? Wrong. Not if you're an Avenger. I followed Coulson out another door and onto the tarmac where a helicopter was waiting for us. Another agent was already waiting inside who was obviously the pilot. I climbed in first and after he plopped down next to me, we took off.

"Your other teammates are already at our destination, you're the last to arrive." I looked at him incredulously.

"Wait, so everyone has been waiting for me? You guys KNEW I was going to join you?" He just smiled and ignored my question as he began to brief me on my new team.

"Do you know who Tony Stark is?"

"I've heard of him. Didn't he build some super suit or something and take down a terrorist camp?"

"That's him. He's one of your team members; we call him Iron Man. Then there's Doctor Bruce Banner, he had an unfortunate mishap with some Gamma rays and let's just say he has problems containing the beast within sometimes. Steve Rogers is also on the team, you may have heard him referred to as Captain America."

"I've heard of him. He was supposed to be a super soldier experiment and was frozen for 70 years or so, right?" Coulson nodded as he continued his rundown of the team.

"Agent Natasha Romanoff is an elite Russian spy, Black Widow. Her partner is Agent Clint Barton, Hawkeye. Excellent archer. Unfortunately he was recently compromised by the enemy and we have yet to retrieve him. Hopefully we get him back soon."

The conversation went like this the rest of the flight, Coulson would tell me about the team and I would interject with a question here or there. Soon we were losing altitude and when I looked down through the window I saw a huge ship with a landing pad beneath us.

'This is it I guess.' As we descended lower and lower I began to really appreciate the size of the thing. You could house at least a hundred people on this. We finally touched down and Coulson hopped out first. I followed him across the deck and through a heavy steel door. He lead me down a hall and into a conference room where I saw several others already gathered. I immediately recognized Captain America and Tony Stark. The petite red head I deduced to be Agent Romanoff and the slightly older man near Stark must have been Doctor Banner. Standing at the head of the table was clearly Director Fury. As we walked in he spoke.

Tony dragged Bruce back to the lab to begin hacking into SHIELDS files for anything about this new agent.

"I'm not even sure I know how to spell Farrelly. Bruce?" The older man just shrugged trying to ignore his younger colleague and continue the Tesseract search. Tony could be incredibly nosy and wouldn't just wait for the new agent to arrive.

After two hours of searching and finding nothing Tony threw in the towel.

"There must not be a file on him yet because I can't find ANYTHING, unless it's codenamed. I've got nothing."

Tony stopped as Natasha opened the door to the lab and told them Fury wanted them back for another meeting.

"How does he expect us to get any work done when he keeps pulling us away every hour to ask us if we found anything yet?" Dr. Banner grumbled as he reluctantly followed Tony back to the boardroom.

They all took their seats and Tony complained to the Director that they couldn't get anything done with him constantly interrupting them. One look from Fury though and he shut right up.

"I'm just saying…" Tony trailed off as Steve smirked at him humbling so quickly in the Director's gaze. Suddenly Fury jerked his head up looking behind all of them.

"It's about damn time Coulson."

"Sorry sir. Farrelly is a harder one to persuade than we originally thought."

All of the Avengers turned around to look at who Director Fury was talking to, and each one of them had a look of surprise.

"Agent Farrelly is a GIRL!?"


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Sorry about the mess in the second chapter. The scene breaks I inserted didn't translate. I'm going to try a different method this chapter.**

**Chapter 3**

My face fell into a frown.

"Well what was I supposed to be?"

"Well I just assumed you would be a dude." Tony just stared as he continued. "I mean not that there's any problem with you being a chick, and a very hot chick at that." I quirked my eyebrow at him, keeping my eyes on him while he approached me. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Farrelly." He brought my hand up to his lips and placed a chaste kiss on my knuckles.

"Mm hmm…" Was all I could say through a grimace. 'Is he for real?' I wiped my hand on the side of my pants. He was good looking, but he obviously knew it. I wasn't going to stroke his ego any more for him, he seemed to have a big enough head as it is.

"Captain Steve Rogers, miss, and please ignore Stark. He's a jerk." He came over nudging Tony away with his shoulder and held his hand out for me to shake.

'Merlin, he is cute. The comic books definitely don't do him justice.' I smirked at his comment about Tony and grabbed his hand. "Pleasure to meet you Captain."

"Wait a minute. Capsicle gets a smile and 'Pleasure to meet you.' And all I got was 'mm hmm'? I'm Tony Stark! Iron Man, billionaire, philanthropist, handsome devil? Ringing any bells?"Pretending like I was thinking about it, I observed him while he threw his little fit. He was tall, dark, and handsome; exactly the type of man I would normally go for. He was clearly well built under that t-shirt too. I could feel the excitement welling up in me, urging me to push his buttons. He seemed like an easy target.

"Nope. Who is Tony Stark?"

"You're joking right? She's joking right?" He looked around to everyone else for confirmation, and back to me when he received none.

"Have you been living under a rock? I've been on magazine covers! Talk shows! The front page! I've won awards! How could you not know this face? I'm world famous!"

I squinted and feigned a face of deep thought, when inside I was trying to hold it all in. This was funny. A moment of silence passed between all of us, and I was thankful Coulson wasn't giving me away. My face suddenly turned to that of recognition, then back to neutral.

"Nope."

Tony threw his hands up and pulled them through his dark curly locks, a look of agitation on his face.

"You said you've heard of Captain America right, Shea?" the agent next to me said, playing right into my game.

"Of course who hasn't? It's an honor to finally meet you in person Captain."

"Please, call me Steve miss." Steve was genuinely happy that for once someone knew who he was and no the egotistical jerk behind him. Having that one up on Stark was a sweet feeling. Especially when it was a pretty young girl Stark clearly expected to swoon over him. Speaking of, she was quite pretty. She was very short, she didn't even make it to his shoulders, and she wasn't sickly skinny like many of the girls in this age. She had intense red hair, like the red they painted fire trucks and other emergency vehicles. It was shocking at first, but he was quickly getting used to it. He had seen stranger things so far. She seemed to enjoy dark colors with her dark eye makeup, and black jeans and biker boots. Her leather jacket was zipped up leaving everything to the imagination. That was something he could appreciate.

"In that case, you may call me Shea."

"Let me take you to your room, you'll find your belongings should already be waiting." Agent Coulson gestured down a hall before he began to lead the way.

"Agent Farrelly." I turned back at the sound of Fury's voice. "You'll be in the training facility in 10 for a general strength and power assessment." I said nothing and turned to continue down the hall behind Coulson.

#

Tony was flustered. He had never met anyone that didn't know him before, especially a beautiful young woman. Even if she wasn't familiar with him, she should still be melting at his feet. ALL women did that around Tony Stark. There must have been something wrong with this girl. He knew Cap was happy the girl recognized him over the billionaire.

Steve was a little wary of the girl's ability to fight, at least at the level of the team. She was very small and nothing about her gave away any indication that she had much training at all. He didn't doubt Fury's ability to recruit the proper people though and would have to wait until her evaluation to see what she was capable of. Looks could be deceiving; in a normal setting Natasha could pass for a perfectly harmless petite young woman.

The four of them along with the Director made their way down to the training area for Agent Farrelly's assessment.

#

I learned where my quarters would be, and Coulson was right about my things already making their way there before me. I didn't even bother to ask how they did that. Not needing anything from my room, my only purpose to stay for the next 10 minutes was to prepare myself mentally for what was about to happen. They already knew about my powers, but this would be the first time I've purposefully had to show them off. I didn't like being on display for the world to see, but I agreed to this when I gave in to the agent's badgering and now was time to sink or swim. They could throw anything at me, so I had settled on just waiting and reacting, I did my best work when I just reacted to the situation in front of me. A knock on my door signaled my time was up and I followed another agent down the hall and down two levels to where the training facilities were held. All of the Avengers were lined up along one side, looking just as curious as I about what was about to happen.

"Ready Agent Farrelly?" I nodded and positioned myself defensively, senses on overdrive because I had no idea what, where, or when something would happen.

"Would you like me to fight her, Director?" Agent Romanoff offered, taking a few steps forward and raising her hands as if to signify she was up for the task.

"No, that's not the kind of fight this will be. Agent Farrelly's strength is not physical, it's mental." The Avenger's looked between themselves slightly confused.

"Tony, suit up." The mentioned man looked at the Director like he was insane.

"Sir, I'm not sure if that's going to help her brain. Furthermore, if she can't fight me why are we even bothering with all of this?"

"Tony. SUIT. UP."

"Fine but it's not my fault if cherry bomb over there gets hurt."

Steve was genuinely worried now. Should he stop this before it began? What kind of team captain would he be if he let his newest member get hurt? He was conflicted between protecting the little woman before she got hurt and trusting his boss' instincts. Before he could decide what to do Stark had already put his suit on and stood across from her. His heart pounded in his throat as Fury commanded him to open fire on the smaller agent. He lunged forward and began to yell for Stark to stop but before he could take more than a step every bullet stopped in midair less than a foot from Shea's head and chest. Her hands were raised by her face and she had a look of focus in her eyes. Then as her hands dropped so did the bullets. Steve couldn't move. What had he just witnessed? He had no idea.

"That's a cool party trick. Got any more?" Tony was truly intrigued now and was trying to egg her into doing something else. He started throwing energy balls at her and with each one he took a step closer. He wanted to pressure her into doing something bigger. She threw up her force field again and started blocking his shots, but as he got closer she started getting irritated. She plucked up the last shot he threw and tossed it right back at his head. His eyes widened at the sudden switch from defense to offense and dodged his own shot by a millimeter. "Now we're getting somewhere. Come on give me all you got! Or is that all, circus act?"

He really wanted to wind me up. Well if it was a knockout he wanted, it's a knockout he would get. Focusing on his body I pushed against it with my mind and he flew like a shot into the far wall. For a few seconds everything was silent, until Tony fell from the wall with a screech of metal on metal. He landed face first on the floor, leaving an Iron Man shaped dent in the steel wall about 10 feet up. I walked over to where he was gingerly sitting up on the floor and smiled down at him.

"Had enough circus tricks, playboy?" She enjoyed the look of realization in his eyes as he latched on to her last sentence. He was about to say something to me, probably about how I lied about not knowing who he was. I cut him off by raising my fist sideways as though I were going to punch him, but then I blew into my palm and opened it sending flakes of frost across his face. I turned around to walk away.

"You did NOT just snow on me, Cherry Bomb." I didn't even grace him with a backward glance as I slid my sunglasses over my eyes; I knew they had to be gold by now instead of their regular blue. It happened when I used more than just a fraction of my power. I walked out of the training facility, sure that I had given Fury and the rest of my new teammates more than enough to begin with. The last thing I heard before walking through the threshold into the hallway was the voice of Dr. Banner.

"Okay, THAT was kind of cool."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling with my arms folded behind my head. My mind was absent as I thought about the day. It felt like a weeks worth of events all crammed into the last few hours. It still didn't feel real. I started the day off like I normally would. Woke up, hit the snooze button three times, threw the alarm. Got out of bed, dragged my feet into the kitchen where my coffee had already brewed. Coffee, nature's sweet nectar. I could drink it all day. Drank my coffee while getting ready for work, made myself some eggs, then walked the six block trek to work. Came home to find Agent Coulson at my door, tried to run away. Gave in to his persistence, flew out with nothing but my wallet and keys, met two living legends, and put my powers on display for everyone to see. I smirked when I remembered throwing Tony into the wall, that was the highlight of my night.

I could tell I was going to have some fun here, at least with Tony around to mess with. I had to remember to ask him next time what that glowing thing in his chest was. The distraction of irritating him made me completely forget. Steve was definitely a looker. Completely opposite of my type, but still hot. He liked to dress nicely in khaki slacks and a button down shirt, but no shirt could hide those chest and shoulder muscles. I had watched his bicep flex when he shook my hand; I always had a thing for big muscles.

I hadn't gotten any real interaction with Dr. Banner or Agent Romanoff yet, but I'm sure we will get along just fine. I rarely made any enemies, I always tried to remain on neutral ground even if I didn't really care for someone. It made it easier to go along when you had to work with someone everyday.

It was going on 10pm now and though I was hungry, I was also tired and didn't want to wander the ship for 45 minutes looking for a kitchen. I got up and sifted through my belongings, seeing what they had picked up for me. All of my clothes were there in my large suitcase, neatly folded and expertly packed. I silently thanked whoever handled my things for being so careful and neat. I'm obsessive compulsive and anything messy or out of place drives me wild. A duffel bag held my shoes, toiletries, personal products, and my _box._

Thank god they had picked it up. Someone deemed it important enough in their eyes to grab, of which I was incredibly thankful. Nothing else would have mattered if I didn't have this. It didn't look like much from the outside, just a shabby old shoe box, but it carried inside my most treasured possessions and memories. I opened it momentarily to check that all of the contents were there before sliding it under my bed.

My room was small, but not much was necessary since this was meant only to be a temporary room. A full sized bed was in the corner across from the door, and a simple dresser sat against the far wall facing the bed. There was a door leading to an adjoining bathroom, which was also small but efficient. I grabbed my toiletries and headed to take a shower. I brushed my teeth when I got out, put on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, and climbed under the blanket. Sleep overtook me within minutes.

#

The next morning I woke up to a knocking on my door. I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes as I threw the blanket aside and zombied my way to the door. Agent Romanoff was on the other side, fully dressed and ready to go.

"I came to show you to the kitchen for breakfast. Should I give you a few minutes?" I nodded and made some sort of grunting noise, which she understood as 'please come in'. I walked back to my suitcase I had not bothered to unpack and pulled out a pair of dark distressed jeans and a Mushroomhead t-shirt with a skeleton hoodie, along with fresh undergarments. I combed out my knotted mess of hair in the bathroom mirror and quickly changed into my new clothes. I grabbed my makeup bag I found with my toiletries and expertly threw on my signature eyeliner and mascara. Five minutes later I was ready and closed my door behind us as she led me down the hall and across the ship.

"We haven't been introduced, I'm Natasha Romanoff. It's nice to not be the only woman on this testosterone fueled ship anymore." I smirked at her last sentence. We would be getting along just fine. "Not much of a morning person?" I just shook my head, knowing I still looked like the walking dead.

"Need coffee." She laughed at my short sentence and nodded in understanding.

"We've got plenty of that. Dr. Banner lives off of it." That made me happy, because so did I. That meant there would be a large supply. I must have been grinning because she just shook her head and opened a door for us, which held the kitchen on the other side. The three men were already there. Steve was sitting at the table with a partially eaten plate, reading a newspaper and drinking his coffee. Tony was at the other end, chowing down on a pile of eggs and bacon. I saw Steve roll his eyes at his lack of manners and suppressed a chuckle. Dr. Banner was standing at the island countertop sipping his coffee and doing something on his laptop.

I made a beeline for the coffee maker that was still half full and immediately poured myself a tall hot cup. I smiled to myself, letting the cup warm my hands and taking little sips as I shuffled over to the table. Sitting across from Steve, I grabbed the milk jug and splashed some into my cup, and added a few spoons of sugar. Taking a few more sips, I let a content sigh slip past my lips and closed my eyes. The warmth spread through my body and I opened my eyes to see everybody staring at me.

"What? I like coffee." The corner of Steve's mouth quirked into a half smile as he continued reading his paper. I felt the caffeine starting to take effect and observed a little more. This time I noticed Steve was wearing a plain t-shirt instead of his button down, and his muscles were practically bulging out of his shirt. I looked over at Tony and immediately remembered that I had something to ask him.

"What's that blue glowy thingy in your chest?" That probably came out rude but I didn't have a better way of putting it. I had heard of Tony Stark before but had never seen him past a face shot.

"This? This is an arc reactor. When I got blown up during a military base visit, shrapnel embedded itself into my chest and was making it's way to my heart. Since I didn't want to spend the rest of my life lugging around the car battery that I had been hooked up to that kept the shrapnel from entering my heart and killing me, I built this. Completely self sustaining energy. Pretty cool huh?"

"So if I take it out will you die?"

"You are an evil little leprechaun aren't you? I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."

"That means yes." I grinned cheekily at him, and he was cut off before he could quip back with another smartass remark.

"You should probably eat something, you must be hungry." Natasha looked over her shoulder from the counter where a small selection of food was laid out for them, gesturing for her to join her in filling a plate with food. I abandoned my coffee cup momentarily and picked up a plate. I forgot how hungry I had become. I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon and that was only a few bites of ramen before I was interrupted. I picked some scrambled eggs, toast, and a few slices of bacon. Plopping back down into my chair I began to dig in, enjoying my meal. Eggs and bacon were one of my favorite meals.

"Jesus, have enough food fattie?" Everyone froze and looked at Tony like he was a dead man. Steve looked pissed, he didn't believe it was okay to ever insult a woman.

"Stark!" Steve didn't get to finish because I interrupted him.

"Steve, may I borrow that for a moment?" I said as I pointed to the newspaper in his hands.

"Sure..." He trailed off, confusion written on his face. I rolled up the paper and swung for Tony's head, making contact several times before feeling satisfied.

"Thank you." I handed the rolled up paper back to Steve.

"Stark, you disgust me. You deserved everything you just got." Steve was clearly still irritated as he unraveled his paper. "Are you okay, Shea? I can beat him up if you would like."

"Haha! Thank you for the offer, but I'm just fine. You think anything ickle Tonykins could say would seriously bother me?"

"Challenge accepted." Tony nodded his head at me and I gave him a daring look, begging him to give me another excuse to smack him around. I didn't dare break eye contact, letting him be the first to look away. When he did, I went back to my coffee and eggs.

Agent Hill, I learned her name was, entered the kitchen and told us all to meet Fury in the conference room when we were done. We all finished up and I followed everyone else, still not knowing the layout of the ship. I trailed at the end, and Steve joined me at the back as soon as he noticed.

"What are you doing back here all alone?" I just shrugged.

" I still don't know where I'm going so I'm just following everyone else." He smiled. 'Merlin, that smile.' He was really nice, going out of his way to try and talk to me. Tony only went out of his way to irritate me since last night. I suppose he may have just been fulfilling his captainly duties, but I secretly liked to think it was because he was interested in me. Who knows.

"Have you settled in okay? Is everyone treating you well, besides Stark?" I let loose a small laugh and nodded.

"Everything is fine, I'm as comfortable as I can get on a hundred ton boat air ship thing." He nodded agreeing with my remark. It wasn't that great for long term living, and the sooner we could get off this thing the better.

"Hey lovebirds, quit making out back there!" Steve scowled and blushed slightly at Tony's remark, but I couldn't resist.

"Jealous, Tonykins?" He played right along with me, making me smile.

"You break my heart babe." He put his hand right over his chest, faking a pout as though it were true.

"Tony Stark doesn't have a heart." I stated matter of factly. The other three were watching between the two of us, eyes bouncing back and forth like they were watching a ping pong match.

"You cut me deep Cherry Bomb."

"Why are you naming me after a shot of alcohol?"

"Because you're small like a shot. You're also sweet like grenadine, but bitter like vodka. Also, you have the reddest hair I have ever seen in my life. It gives me a headache just looking at it, I need sunglasses." My face fell and I raised my eyebrow as if to say 'really?', but the conversation ended there because we had entered the conference room and Fury called our attention.

"We've got a 92% match guys, the enemy is in Germany."

"Not exactly trying to hide, is he?" Tony said as an image of 'the enemy' was brought up on one of the large computer screens. He was a handsome fellow, pale skin and long slicked back black hair.

'Too bad he's evil.' I thought to myself.

"We have a solid tip that he's planning on making his grand entrance at a benefit tonight. We should place some of our agents inside for the safety of the people." Agent Hill suggested. We all nodded in agreement, looking between each other. My first mission.

"Alright, I've got a plan." Steve said.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Luna-Bee kindly pointed out to me that my constant switching between first and third person is making it difficult to read. I'm sorry about that you guys. I'm a habitual third person writer and I wanted to try writing in first person this time. As you can see it wasn't working too well because every time I steer away from my character I revert back to third. I'm going to stick with third person from now on just because it's what I do best. Sorry for any confusion I caused.**

**Chapter 5**

"Stark, you're well enough known that you wouldn't look very out of place at one of these events. You'll attend as a guest so we have an eye on the inside." Steve pointed to the Iron Man.

"Fine, but Tony Stark doesn't go to parties alone. He always has at least one beautiful woman with him. I'm going to need a date." He looked right into Shea's eyes speaking that last sentence and everyone else followed his gaze. Her eyes widened when she realized what he was implying. She put her hands up in defense and shook her head vigorously.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. I can't be your date. I don't do fancy parties. Why can't Natasha be your date?"

"She's going to be waiting in the air in case we need backup." Steve looked at Natasha and she nodded in confirmation to her assignment.

"Let's face it; she's probably much stealthier than you are." She rolled her eyes, but knew Tony was right. If they needed an unseen eye in the sky, Black Widow would be much better at piloting the Quinjet. She didn't even know how to fly the thing.

"Come on why can't some other female agent be your date?"

"Because they're not part of the Avengers Initiative. You're coming with me so quit arguing." She huffed and crossed her arms. 'My first mission and I had to pretend to be Tony's whore for the evening. This blows.'

"Bruce, we're going to need you back here ready just in case we need you to track him. I will stay in the jet with Romanoff just in case you two need backup." Everyone nodded in agreement with their Captain's plan.

"We'll need to coordinate our outfits, make sure we look like a legitimate couple. What do you have that you can wear for tonight?" The red head pursed her lips, completely forgetting about that part. Mumbling something unintelligible, Steve furrowed his eyebrows not understanding.

"What was that?" He inclined his head and she shifted her eyes trying look anywhere but in his baby blues.

"I don't have anything."

"I thought every girl had a nice dress for formal occasions? Isn't it a girl thing?"

"Not every girl is worried about partying and frivolities Tony. Some women care more about practicality and have better things to do with their lives." Natasha 1 – Tony 0.

"I guess we will have to land so we can pick you up something then. I wish I could just say borrow something from the Widow, but I highly doubt anything of hers would fit you properly. You two have completely different body types." The red head only groaned and walked over to the window looking out at the vast expanse of clouds. 'Now I not only have to wear a dress, but I have to go _shopping._ Great.'

"It's settled then. Natasha can go with her to help her find something suitable for this kind of event." Captain was lucky he was cute. She looked back over her shoulder into his baby blues and had no choice but to give in.

#

"So Cap, I see you have eyes for the new girl." Tony stopped next to him and watched him watching her. She was standing with her back to us again watching out the window.

"I don't know what you're talking about Stark." He looked down at the shorter man with a slight tint to his cheeks. He was a little embarrassed being caught staring; he didn't even realize it until now. She was a beautiful woman, and it was hard not to look at her. She attracted attention easily, with her bright red hair and sometimes shocking clothing. It wasn't any type of clothes he was used to seeing, especially on a woman. Still he liked looking at her. He was curious about her and wanted to talk to her more.

He thought back to earlier and their conversation that Stark had interrupted. She didn't protest to the remark about them making out. Did she not resent the idea of kissing him? Knowing how promiscuous women could be in this era he realized it probably wouldn't be a big deal to her if she did.

They could tell they were losing altitude and could see water far far below them now. They would soon land in the ocean so Natasha and Shea could go find her a dress.

"I don't blame you; I mean she's a hottie. You need a girlfriend anyways. You should get to know her better and get you some action."

"Don't talk about her like that. She is a lady and deserves to be treated as such. I won't tolerate your derogatory remarks about her."

"Touchy, touchy. See? Someone likes her already. Well if you don't get her soon someone else will." He left Steve to his thoughts and went to meet Bruce back in the lab. The blonde man sighed, and though he did not care for Tony and wanted to ignore everything he says, he could be right. Perhaps he should get to know her. Why would he be worried about her getting a boyfriend though? That wouldn't bother him. He barely knew the girl, how could he get jealous over that?

'She is good looking, and she can verbally wipe the floor with Stark. Those are two qualities I can approve of.' He smiled, not realizing he was staring again. He was so engrossed in his thoughts he did not see Natasha turn around and catch him, staring and smiling like an idiot.

#

She heard the footsteps approach and by the clicking sound they made she knew it was Natasha.

"Our Captain is staring at you." She raised her eyebrow and looked at the taller woman, before looking back over her shoulder. The second their blue eyes connected he looked away, but she had caught him. He cleared his throat and tried to compose himself as the small girl threw him a smile. She turned back to the window and the two red heads shared a glance. Natasha wore a knowing smirk.

"I think he likes you. He was grinning like an idiot the entire time he was staring."

"Oh please, I highly doubt that. He was probably just lost in thought and was just staring into space." She defended. 'I wish he was thinking about me though.'

"Come with me, we're almost there." She followed the thinner woman out to the deck where the helicopter she flew in on was waiting for them. They both climbed in as the helicarrier settled into the ocean and Natasha flew them both to land.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Okay, I'm going to try first person ONE more time. I keep switching between the two without noticing so I'm going to try to make it more bearable.**

**Chapter 6**

We landed at a US Naval base in England where we were escorted by two men into London. They pulled up in front of a strip of stores and let us out, reminding us that they would be waiting there for our return.

I followed the Widow's lead because it seemed like she had been here before. If not then she definitely knew where she was going because she walked swiftly with purpose. She led me into a nice looking shop where my sight was immediately bombarded by gowns of all sizes and colors.

"Okay, let's just get this over with." I said, though I'm sure I looked completely lost as to where to start. I followed Natasha over to a rack to the right and watched as she started sifting through the dresses. I stood aside and let her do the dress picking, not knowing what to look for. The slender woman began pulling out a few different evening gowns she thought may look good for tonight's mission. She then led me over to the dressing room.

"Try these on, and show me each one." I silently took the gowns from her arms and trudged into the small room, locking it behind me. The first one was a blue floor length gown with rhinestones covering the bodice. As I slipped it over my head I realized Natasha had judged my size perfectly. I had to lift the hem as I exited the dressing room though, for it was far too long for me. The woman just shook her head and we both silently agreed. No.

I tried on the second dress, a tan figure hugging number that I instantly hated. I showed Natasha with a grimace and we both shook our heads. This time I decided to reach for the black evening gown and lifted it over my head. It crisscrossed over the shoulders and had a VERY low back. It dipped all the way down to my hips. It was completely black and made of a fine fabric that looked like rippling water when I moved, and was completely covered in some sort of glitter that made it look like a night sky; stars twinkling in the distance. This one wasn't so bad. I checked myself out in the mirror before opening the door to show the woman waiting for me.

The smile Natasha gave told me this was the one. It was still far too long for my short self to walk in, even in heels, so we asked the seamstress to quickly hem it for us. While that was being taken care of, we went to the accessories section of the shop and found a pair of black heels.

Not much later we exited the shop. I had a dress bag slung over my arm and my other hand held the bag with my new shoes. I pouted thinking about how I was going to have to wear this tonight. There is a reason I don't own dresses. Not only did this dress just cost a small fortune, but it was hard to fight in.

"What if I need to run or fight?" I asked the master assassin. She smiled at me.

"Thankfully most of your powers do not require much movement, but should you need to run then you better hike it up." That made me laugh. I could see me now, sprinting down the street with a ball gown pulled up to my thighs. I would look ridiculous.

"So, your powers. What are they exactly?"

"I'm a psychic. I can create force fields, read minds, and I'm also telekinetic. I can move people and things with my mind."

"That could seriously come in handy." I nodded in agreement.

"Oh yes, it has in the past. I can throw people with my mind like I did to Tony last night. I could also take something from them or throw something at them. It's a very useful tool."

"How did you blow snow on him though? I didn't think that was a psychic power." I laughed with her; that was still funny even today.

"I've dabbled in some magick. I'm not a master of it but I can do some things. The snow was more for dramatic effect, and to make him mad." Natasha laughed again and opened the door to the waiting jeep. We climbed in the back seat and didn't talk about my powers any more as we were taken back to base. We talked about medial things and soon we were back in the chopper flying off the Helicarrier.

"I can't wait until tonight is over; I hate dresses. It's not funny, stop laughing." I half smiled and betrayed my serious tone.

"I'd be more concerned of the fact that Tony is your date."

"You're telling me. Everyone knows he sleeps with every woman he meets, lucky me I get to be his trophy woman for the night. Now everyone will think I've slept with him. Ugh." I enjoyed talking to Nat, which she insisted I call her. I'm not much of a girly girl and I didn't like being around women that much, but I could tell neither was she. I could deal with being around her.

"I have some jewelry you can borrow for the evening. After all, being Tony Stark's date you have to look like a million dollars."

"Goodie. Thanks for the help Nat." We were landing back on the Helicarrier's deck and saw Coulson waiting for us.

"Agents Romanoff, Farrelly." He nodded to us in turn. "We depart shortly for Germany and the Director asked that you get ready as soon as possible."

Nat and I walked to our respective rooms to change, and it was then I found her room was one door down from mine. She promised as soon as she finished dressing she would come to my room to help me get ready. I was thankful because I had no idea how to doll myself up like that. I went into my bathroom to touch up my makeup and add some eye shadow. Then I took out my gown and hung it inside the bathroom door, placing the shoe box on the floor next to it. I heard a rapping on my door and figuring it was Nat, told them to come in.

"Hey gorgeous, where's the dress?" I whipped around to see Tony leaning in the door frame. Good thing I closed the bathroom door before I let him in.

"You'll see it tonight. What are you doing here?"

"I just told you, I wanna see the dress. We need to color coordinate you know, so I need to know what my beautiful date is wearing."

"It's black, okay?"

"Come on babe, let me see it. Hey Cap! You wanna see Cherry Bomb's dress right?" He stopped a passing Steve and dragged him over to where he stood. "See, Stars and Stripes wants to see it too. Where is it?"

I walked over to them, getting within inches of Tony's face. "The only thing you need to know is it is black, so you can wear whatever you want. If you want to know anything else about it you'll just have to wait until you see it tonight."

"I like that perfume you're wearing, it's nice. What is it?" I bristled with irritation, he wasn't listening to me at all. Steve gave me an apologetic look and tried to drag Tony away but he decided he wanted to stay.

"Am I interrupting something?" Three heads turned to see Natasha standing there with a small bag in her hands.

"No, just telling this gorgeous lady that I can't wait for our date tonight. I have to go get ready now, so see you tonight babe!" Tony walked away, smiling to himself. He was trying to make Steve jealous because he knew he liked the girl and wanted them to get together. He _did_ love playing matchmaker. "Come on Spangles, let's let her get dolled up for me."

I heard Steve growl lowly at Tony and shook my head. "Don't let him ruffle your feathers."

"Are you sure you'll be okay with him tonight?" I smiled genuinely at his concern, but I could handle myself.

"He's only saying these things to make you mad, don't worry about me. Besides, you'll only be a call away if I need you." He returned my smile and nodded to Nat and I before he walked away, presumably to suit up.

"Those two are a piece of work." I said as I walked to the bathroom, Nat following. She sat me down and began to do my hair in elaborate curls. She sprayed in some hairspray and then had my put on the dress. This time the hem was much better. I grazed the floor by only an inch or so, so with the heels it should be the perfect length. She helped me pull the straps over my head as not to ruin the curls. She then pulled all of my hair around my head to one side as if to make a side ponytail. She picked up a few bobby pins and pinned my curls over so they would stay like that. She then added more hairspray and went back to her bag. She pulled out some diamond chandelier earrings, a tennis bracelet, and a very expensive looking diamond necklace. I was going to look like a million bucks alright.

"Being a spy I often had to disguise myself in formal wear. I have more but I thought these would look best with your dress."

"These look really expensive, Nat. Are you sure? What if something happens to these in a fight?"

"Don't worry about it, they can be replaced."

"Whatever you say." I stood up and went over to my heels, slipping them on. I checked myself out in the mirror behind my bathroom door. This was the first time I've ever seen myself dolled up. I looked hot if I could say so. I wasn't a fan of the limited movement in the dress and heels, but if I wanted to catch someone's eye this outfit would be the one to do it in. Not that I'm trying though.

"You look good. Here." She handed me a black clutch purse and I could feel something oddly shaped inside. I opened it to see a handgun.

"Just in case you need it. Can't let you go completely unarmed."

"Thanks. Ready to go?" She nodded and the two of us were met by Agent Hill in the conference room.

"Agent Romanoff, you will join Captain America in the Quinjet and set off for the location. Agent Farrelly will take a helicopter with Iron Man to a rendezvous point where they will take a limo the rest of the way to a party." We nodded and I followed Agent Hill outside as Nat walked to the hangar. As we approached the chopper the back door was opened by Tony.

"Where have you been all my life beautiful?" I just snorted and rolled my eyes. He reached out a hand to help me in. It was hard to climb in this getup. I sat next to him in the back as we lifted off towards Germany.

'Here goes nothing.'


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"That dress is marvelous Cherry Bomb. I think my heart just stopped." I rolled my eyes at him. Tony was such a dog. I could see him out of the corner of my eye looking me up and down. I turned to look straight into his eyes.

"My eyes are up here pervert."

"Yes they are."

"Alright you two, here are your ear pieces to keep you connected with your teammates." Coulson passed back two tiny ear buds and we put them in. It was easy for me to conceal as I put mine in the ear that was covered by my hair. Tony put a Bluetooth over his in a clever ruse and nobody would suspect a thing.

"_Can you two hear me?"_

"Loud and clear Cap. By the way, it's too bad you can't see Shea in this dress. She is smoking hot. OW!" He tried to shield himself as I swung at him with my purse. "What the hell do you have in there? A brick?"

The sound of my laughter filled all of our ears and I heard Steve grumble in the background.

"_Okay you two, behave over there. We need to go over the plan." _I could hear Nat's patience slipping in her voice. I raised my purse at Tony one more time in a silent threat, to which he raised his hands in surrender.

"_Right. Shea and Tony will be inside searching for our man while Agent Romanoff and I stay up here for backup. Your job is to locate him and remove him without incident if possible. We need to get him out before something happens."_

"Nervous baby doll?" Damn him, he had to say it out loud. He must have noticed me fidgeting.

"Yes I'm nervous. This is my first mission and I'm one of the primary agents. What if I screw up?"

"_Don't be. Remember if you need me, I'm only a few seconds away. Just say the word."_ The Captain's words made me smile and put me at ease, if only slightly.

#

We had made the transition to the limo and were now arriving at the benefit. The limo pulled up to the steps and the press crowded to try and get a look at the next rich benefactor to arrive. Our driver walked around to the door and opened it. The cameras started flashing as Tony stepped out and the volume of voices exploded. He turned around and grabbed my hand, helping me out of the back seat in a gentlemanly fashion. I tried my best not to look like a deer in the headlights. Tony offered me his arm and I wrapped mine around it. He led me up the stone steps and into the massive hall. People were milling about here and there, chatting and sipping champagne. An orchestra was playing music and several people were dancing in the middle of the floor. We scanned faces on our way in, but no one looked remotely like who we were looking for.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"We're here aren't we? May as well try to enjoy it. May I have this dance?" He bowed dramatically and held out his hand, making me laugh. I nodded and let him lead me to the dance floor. He kept hold of my hand as we faced each other and he but the other on the small of my bare back. I placed my other hand on his shoulder. We started to move with the music, Tony holding me close. This made it easy to watch over each other's shoulders and speak to each other in hushed voices without anyone overhearing.

"_Anything yet guys?"_ Our ear pieces crackled with Nat's inquiry.

"Not yet, we're working on a full scan of the place right now." We continued moving in slow circles as Tony replied, looking at each and every face. After a few minutes of unsuccessful searching, someone on the second floor balcony caught my eye.

"Tony. Second floor, pale skin and dark hair. Is that him?"

"Looking." The man left my view as Tony spun us around to get a better look.

"I've got a confirmed sighting guys; I think he recognized me." I tensed in his arms, afraid now. I didn't know what he was capable of. All I had learned was that he had stolen the Tesseract and stole one of our Agents. I was afraid if he recognized Tony he might attack.

Before either of us could react, he had descended the staircase and attacked a man. Everyone started running and screaming. This made it much harder to locate him. We decided to run for the door like everyone else, knowing it was likely where the people would go so would he.

He suddenly appeared standing above everyone on a pedestal. He identified himself as Loki and demanded everyone kneel before him. Tony and I were off to the side still standing and he hadn't noticed us yet. He was now wearing a horned helmet and waving a scepter at the crowd.

"Really, that's your name? Loki – the Norse god of mischief?" Me and my big mouth. He turned his head to me and a grin crept onto his face.

"And what might your name be my dear?" I didn't want to use my powers in public right now, so I reached into my purse and put my hand on my gun just to be ready.

"We will never bow to men like you!" An old veteran stood and shouted. 'No!' I grabbed tighter to my gun and prepared to draw it.

"Take an example from your elder! He will show you what not to do!" He pointed the scepter at the old man and as I was about to draw my gun, Steve appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany there was a man standing above everyone else. We didn't get along." Steve threw his Shield and the battle began. The crowd took their chance to run and Tony and I cleared the area as fast as we could. Steve overpowered Loki within minutes and took away his scepter.

I noticed the scepter discarded over to the side and picked it up. Nat brought down the Quinjet. Loki was now bound and being led onto the aircraft with a scowl. He looked back and saw me with his weapon, eyes widening slightly. Tony and I brought up the rear of the parade. The hatch closed and we took off.

Steve turned around and froze when he saw Tony and I. He was eyeing me with a strange glint in his eye that I couldn't read.

"Like what you see Cap? Told you she was smokin'." I whacked him with my purse again and he tried to shield himself with his arms.

"Hey, hey! I'm just saying you're a regulation hottie! Geez can't even take a compliment." I pushed past Tony to put the scepter in the corner, as far away from Loki as possible.

"Whoa! How the hell did I miss that ink? I've been with you the entire night and didn't see that once!" I turned back around and said nothing, just smiled and sat down on the bench opposite Loki.

"What are you talking about Stark?" Steve didn't understand the slang for tattoo clearly and had no idea what Tony just saw. I had completely forgotten that the dress had exposed my back piece and was thankful that only Tony had seen it so far.

"Are you blind? Am I the only one who saw that?" He looked around for backup and when he saw he would get none, he looked back to me.

"Show them what I just saw."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Tony. It's a little chilly." I made an excuse as I slipped on a thin black jacket over my dress, thus covering my back.

Suddenly, a large crash of thunder sounded across the sky and through the jet. Loki jumped.

"What's the matter? Afraid of a little thunder?"

"I'm more worried about what comes after it." Loki told Steve, and then there was a huge thump as though something landed on the aircraft.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Suddenly the hatch was ripped open by a large blonde man wearing armor. My eyes bugged out of my head.

'No freaking way! He looks just like the god of thunder! I think I've lost my mind.' Suddenly my mind made the connection. I looked back to Loki and then to the blonde man once more. 'Are they _really_ Norse Gods?' I watched Thor march over to Loki and grab him by the arm. He jumped out of the hatch.

"We have to go after them!" I looked at Tony who was already half way through suiting up. He nodded in response and made his way to the opening. Steve stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Wait! We need a plan of attack!"

"That is my plan. Attack." His face shield closed and he flew out of the jet. Steve looked angry but made to follow.

"Wait. Do you really think it's wise? They're practically gods." He turned to face Widow and replied.

"There's only one god ma'am, and he doesn't look like that." I watched him leap out in pursuit of the three men.

"I'm going after them." I began hastily removing my heels.

"How do you think you're going to get down there?" Nat had a point. I couldn't fly like Tony, and I probably wouldn't survive the jump like a super soldier. I suppose I could try and slow my descent with telekinesis, but this high up there was no guarantee I could do so without injury. Nat banked left and we descended quickly into the tree line. I darted out before we came to a complete stop and could hear yelling in the distance. We hadn't landed far from them. I took off towards the voices, dress hiked up past my knees for speed. I remembered Nat's comment earlier and couldn't help but smile a little.

I could feel the rocks and fallen branches scraping and cutting into my bare feet, but I didn't lose pace. The voices got much louder and I broke through a clearing at a cliff edge. The scene that unfolded before my eyes was almost comical. Thor, Steve, and Tony were all arguing and fighting each other. The subject of their fighting was standing off to the side still bound, a look of exasperation across his face.

I walked further into the clearing intent on stopping this madness, but they were so engrossed in their arguing no one saw me approach, save Loki. He eyed me curiously and I tried my best to ignore him. As I made it to the fight, Steve suddenly threw his shield at Thor, but I was right in it's path.

Everything seemed to slow down. I saw the shield spinning towards my head, and Tony's eyes widening in fear. I threw myself to the ground and heard the whooshing of the shield. It had missed my head by barely an inch. I heard a clang and a thud as Steve's shield was deflected and hit the ground.

"Maiden, are you alright? It is not safe here!" Thor's voice boomed like thunder, and if it weren't for my near death experience I would have been more impressed.

"Shea! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Steve ran to my side as I pushed myself to my hands and knees.

"Good job Ultimate Frisbee, you nearly took her head off!" Steve was now kneeling beside me and I sat back on my knees as well. I hadn't realized until now that I was breathing heavily and Steve put a strong hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay, I'm fine. It was my fault." I tried to reassure everyone. I moved to stand and Steve sprang up, offering his hand. I accepted and let him pull me to my feet, but he never let go.

"Are you sure?" Steve gave me a disbelieving look and I nodded in reassurance.

"I'll be fine, just have to catch my breath." My breathing was still labored but slowing down now.

"Okay, if you're sure." Steve must have finally realized he was still holding my hand because he quickly released it.

"Are we done now? Because I would like to get back. I'm starving." Leave it to Tony to worry about food at a time like this.

"This way." Thor grabbed Loki's arm to prevent him from trying to run and followed us through the trees. I was leading everyone back to the Quinjet and this time I could really feel the pain in my feet. I still had my skirt hiked up above my knees so it wouldn't drag or trip me up. Steve took this time to finally notice my bare feet.

"Where are your shoes?"

"I left them in the jet. Do you really think I could have chased you guys down in heels?"

"Doesn't that hurt your feet? You might seriously injure yourself if you step on the wrong thing." I looked at Steve but his eyes were trained on my feet. His eyes trailed slowly up my legs and I saw a tinge in his cheeks. He must not have been used to seeing so much leg on a woman.

'Derp, he's from the 20's and 30's. This is much more than he's used to seeing.' He looked up to my face and I tried to pretend I didn't see him staring. "Yeah but I can handle it."

"Need a lift?" Was all I heard from behind me and then I was thrown unceremoniously over a metal shoulder.

"Put me down, I'm not a sack of potatoes!" Tony just laughed at me while I flailed and punched the back of his suit. I knew I couldn't really hurt him in his near impenetrable armor, but I would still try. After a few more seconds of flailing he dropped me on the ground.

"Oof!" If looks could kill I would be wanted for the murder of Iron Man.

"Fine, you can walk." He stepped over me and I kicked him right behind his knee. It didn't hurt, but had the intended effect. He was surprised when his leg buckled and he fell next to me.

"That's what I was trying to do!" Then I stuck my tongue out at him and blew raspberries, like any mature adult would do. Tony and I shared a grin on the forest floor and then I let out a small half squeal of surprise. My body was suddenly lifted into the air by a pair of very strong arms. I instinctively wrapped my arms over Steve's shoulder and looked at him with wide eyes. He only looked straight ahead and continued along the path I was taking them. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on or why he decided to pick me up, but I could definitely get used to this. Still my pride had to interject.

"It's okay I can just walk the rest of the way. You can put me down now." I tried to get Steve's attention with a pat on the shoulder, but he ignored me. "Steve-"

"Don't worry about it. I owe you for nearly decapitating you. At least let me help you."

#

I really was just trying to help her. I felt terrible still for that near hit earlier and I knew her feet had to be damaged by now to some extent. As Captain I was to ensure the safety of my team and this was purely business.

That's what I kept telling myself. Her hand had felt odd in mine earlier, and I held it way too long. I also had caught myself staring at her legs. I had to stop myself before I had thoughts; thoughts my mother raised me not to think. Now I was carrying her. It felt nice holding her in his arms, her holding onto his shoulder. Maybe it was because he had never really been in this close proximity of a woman before, but he liked it.

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We had made it back to the Quinjet quickly where an irritated Natasha stood tapping her foot. Steve finally let me down and pain shot through my feet. He must have seen me limping, because he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and walked me back inside. I sat down as soon as I made it to the bench and inspected my feet. They were covered in dirt but underneath I could see some cuts and dried blood. Nothing very serious but they would hurt for a while. I would need to clean them when we got back. Some peroxide and a few band-aids should suffice. Steve had taken up the seat next to me.

"You should have just waited here for us."

"What, and miss out on all the fun?" I smiled and he shook his head. I wonder what he's thinking right now. I could read minds but I didn't do it often. It was pretty rude to just invade someone's privacy all the time and I wouldn't want someone doing that to me. We were off again to the helicarrier and in minutes we made it, everyone in tow this time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_My head was down, hair covering my face as I tried to hide from the world. To the teacher it looked like I was just taking notes, but my classmates knew better. I could still hear them snickering and whispering about me, not even trying to disguise it. I had just spent the majority of lunch in the bathroom, crying quietly while I tried to clean myself off. I had been sitting alone in the cafeteria at the table against the wall, ignoring everyone as they did the same to me. Out of nowhere I feel something hit my head, and something cold dripped down my face._

"_Oops! Sorry freak!" he had thrown his tray over me. I turned to see Alan McGuire, one of my lifelong antagonists. One of the kids who used to push me around in grade school. The entire cafeteria chorused in laughter, and I gave him the nastiest look I could muster. I couldn't do anything with this many people around so I resigned to the bathroom to clean myself off the best I could. I could hear someone calling my name but I didn't bother to look. I stood at the sink trying to clean the milk and applesauce off of my clothing with paper towels, thankful no one was in there to see my tears._

_Now I sat in history pretending to take notes. I was going to smell like old milk for the rest of the day. I watched Alan sleeping through class, anger bubbling back to the surface. I delved into his mind and ended up in his dream. I had never done this before. It was a happy dream I suppose, for a douchebag. He was making out with some chick, I didn't really care who. I only wanted to cause him pain. I wanted him to feel how I felt today, yesterday, everyday. I wanted him to feel how I felt in the third grade when he pushed me down on the playground. Suddenly the dream warped around me and everything became very dark. The woman he was making out with turned into some fanged beast and let out a monstrous roar. He leapt up and ran, but just like any dream he couldn't seem to run fast enough. The beast soon caught up with him and sank its jaws into his leg. He screamed in pain, and for the first time in a long time, I smiled. I watched as the beast thrashed around, tearing him to shreds._

_I was thrown out of his head by sudden screams. I came back to reality and everyone was against the far wall except me. They were all staring at Alan, fear in their eyes. He was on the floor writhing in pain. Still trapped in his nightmare, he was clutching his leg which was bleeding everywhere. My eyes widened, not knowing what to do. The teacher pulled out her cell phone and called 911._

I sat up quickly, a thin sheen of sweat covering me. I peeled back my blanket and stood up. I needed a walk. My feet were still a tad sore, but it hardly bothered me now. When we had returned to the helicarrier last night I procured a handful of band-aids and a bottle of peroxide from the medical room and attended to my feet after a long hot shower. There had been a few cuts but nothing serious. A bruise here and there where I must have stepped on some sharp rocks spotted my feet.

I grabbed my hoodie and left my room, wandering the carrier's halls. It was 4:30 in the morning, and I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep now. That memory hadn't plagued me in a long time, so I have no idea why it showed up now. After the ambulance had shown up that day they tried to stop the bleeding and loaded Alan onto a stretcher. As they pushed him out of the room his eyes locked with mine, as if he knew. His eyes were pure fear as they pushed him out of sight.

I know now what happened. That night I looked it up online and found a page on dream eating. It described everything to me about invading someone's dreams and manipulating them. Only what happens in the dream becomes reality. It was the first time I had done that, and wondered what else I was capable of. After that day Alan never bothered me again. He always gave me a knowing and fearful look, but avoided me like the plague. Half of me was glad because the prick deserved it, the other half felt terrible. It's something that still haunts me from time to time.

The doctors explained it as a severe blood clot in his leg that burst, causing him to bleed out everywhere. I knew they were full of shit and someone was trying to cover it all up. I suspect now that it was SHIELD. Now that I know they've been watching me since childhood it was pretty obvious.

I wandered to the kitchen and began brewing a large pot of coffee. I was seriously going to need it today. While I waited for that I raided the fridge for something to eat and found a box of strawberries. I grabbed the container of my favorite fruit and then poured myself a cup. I walked with my meal into the conference room, where all of the computers were unattended. Setting my items on a desk, I sat at the computer nearest me and began nosing around. I found the internet browser, and soon it was time for Angry Birds. I played for nearly an hour; the box of strawberries now gone and I had refilled my coffee twice. I didn't see Steve enter at all and jumped out of my skin when he spoke.

"I was wondering who made coffee." I missed my shot completely as the bird flew straight into the air screeching. Wide eyed and heart racing, I looked to my right to find the captain taking a sip from his mug. I exhaled and closed my eyes, not ready for his cute face this early. "Sorry if I scared you." He walked over examining the computer screen. "What is this?"

"Angry Birds, it's a game. You shoot the birds at the pigs with this slingshot and try to hit them all with the birds you're given."

"Why?"

"Because the greedy pigs stole all of the birds eggs and they're trying to get them back." His face was funny as I explained this, the weirdest expression on his face. He shook his head and took another swig of coffee.

"What are you doing up this early?" I contemplated telling him, but decided I didn't need any more enemies.

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same." He nodded. I checked the time on the screen; it was 5:30 now. Some of the ships inhabitants will be getting up soon. I closed the game out and stood, stretching and yawning. My hoodie rose up and exposed a few inches of my navel and Steve visibly blushed. He averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his head nervously. He was so cute when he was nervous.

"Well I guess I should go get dressed or something." I trailed off. This left an awkward silence between the two of us. "I'll see you later okay?"

"Right, see you later Shea." I left the conference room and made my way back to my room. An hour later I reentered the kitchen to see several people milling about, and joined Natasha at the table.

"So, what were you and the captain doing this morning?" I choked on what had to be my fourth cup of coffee and furrowed my brows.

"How did you know we were up?"

"I saw you two on my way to train this morning." Geez how many people creep around that early in the morning?

"I couldn't sleep and neither could he. I was showing him now to play Angry Birds." She looked at me funny. "What, you don't know Angry Birds? The game?" She shook her head at me and I sighed. These people need to get out a little. Natasha and I talked for a while until an agent rushed into the kitchen, cutting us off.

"Agent Romanoff, Agent Farrelly, they need you in the lab. Now." The urgency in his voice made Nat and I look at each other before swiftly walking off in that direction.


	10. Chapter 10

Natasha and I entered the lab to chaos. Steve and Tony were bickering like children and Thor was telling them how petty they were being. Bruce was looking far from calm as he gravitated towards the scepter. Fury entered behind us seconds later.

"What is going on here!? Can we please stop acting like children and start acting like grown men? What is the matter with you all?" Everyone fell silent at his words, and Thor shook his head.

"Dr. Banner, put the scepter down." I pleaded, and everyone's attention finally turned to where I had been focused the entire time. He shook his head slightly as if snapping out of it and set the weapon back down on the table.

"Sorry guys, guess you won't get to see my party trick after all."

"You guys this is what he wants! He wants us to fight! He wants to tear us apart and he wants to set off the Hulk!" Nat had a point and it was looking like she was right.

"We're volatile and he knows it. All of us; we're a time bomb. He wants to set us against each other so when the time comes he won't have anyone to stand against him." Tony's words struck a chord in me. We needed to stick together for the time being. "We're letting him win."

"He has to be messing with our heads somehow. Probably with that thing, but I'm not sure. Why else would he let us capture him so easily? He wanted to be on the carrier with us." I finally voiced what had been bugging me since last night. I knew that had Loki wanted to, he could have escaped during that fight on the cliff. He didn't though, and that got me thinking he had ulterior motives. "He saw you guys fighting last night; he knew how easy it would be to pit us against each other. He wanted on this carrier with us so he could do just that."

"I think we should all get away from that thing for a while." We all nodded at Natasha's suggestion and made to exit the lab when a large explosion rocked the ship. I was thrown off my feet and landed on someone, but I couldn't see who it was. Pieces of the ceiling had broken apart and were falling everywhere. I tried to cover my head with my hands as the person underneath me moved. I had been rolled onto the floor and my body was now covered by another. After a few seconds I realized my eyes were clenched shut and opened them. Steve was above me on hands and knees, separating me from the falling rubble.

"Holy crap! Are you okay?" After he nodded I grabbed the front of his shirt and shook him slightly. "Are you insane!? You could have been hurt, or killed!"

"It's going to take a lot more than that to kill me miss. I was more concerned for you." I could see the wince of pain he tried to hide as he sat back. I felt bad; his back must be hurting after that miniature avalanche. A high pitched scream drew our attention towards Dr. Banner, or at least where he used to be. In his place was a gaping hole in the floor. I crawled over and looked down into the cargo hold several floors below. My eyes nearly fell out of my head at the sight. Banner had hulked out and released a tremendous roar as he took off after Natasha.

"All available hands report immediately! We're under attack!" I heard Fury yell behind me.

"Loki brought friends." I jumped slightly, only just noticing Tony next to me.

"We have to help Nat!" I began swinging my feet over the edge saying this, but a pair of arms around my torso stopped me from jumping. "Let me go!" I kicked around as I was raised into the air, trying to release the hold on me. The arms didn't budge though, and Tony's voice in my ear told me who it was.

"She can handle herself. We need you up here!" I stopped flailing and stared through the floor where I could no longer see her, only the roar of the Hulk echoed through. Tony pushed me out of the lab and we followed everyone to the conference room. Another explosion rocked the ship and sent me into Tony this time, though his grip on my arm kept both of us standing. Alarms went off everywhere.

"Sir! One of the engines are down! If we lose one more, we'll fall out of the sky!"

"Stark! Get out there and see what you can do about that engine! Rogers, help him! Farrelly! Accompany Thor to the containment chamber. See if you can get _anything_ out of Loki and do NOT let him escape!" I nodded and let Thor lead me to Loki's cell. When we arrived he was standing outside the cell door. I tried probing his mind, but came up with nothing. Thor charged before I could stop him.

"No! Thor, it's not him!" It was too late. As he ran through Loki's apparition it dissolved into tendrils of smoke. He stopped right at the center of the containment cell and whipped around in time to see his mistake. The real Loki appeared and sealed the door. Thor tried breaking the glass with his hammer, but it only caused the cells hold to loosen and threaten to fall. Then Coulson appeared around the corner.

'Oh no. This is all going to hell fast.' I tried probing the real Loki's mind and was rushed with several thoughts at once. Luckily, mind reading was my most well practiced talent. It only took me seconds to sort out and understand everything running through his head. I needed to stop Coulson from getting too close so I jogged towards both of them.

"Don't take another step, or he's gone." I froze as did Coulson. Loki's hand hovered dangerously near the release button. I traded looks with Coulson, silently trying to figure out our next move. I saw Thor gesturing to me behind Loki's back and wasn't sure what he wanted me to do. He was waving me over like he was asking me to move in, but I wasn't going to let him play the martyr. I became frustrated with not understanding him so I delved into his mind. I didn't expect him to talk to me.

'Do not listen to his hollow threats! I will be fine! Stop my brother before it is too late!'

'You won't make that fall stuck in there!'

'Just listen to me!'

I decided not to think on it and ran at the pale man. He grinned sadistically and pressed the button, releasing Thor into the air below. He grabbed my shoulders and threw me to the side, but it was all the distraction Coulson needed to have a giant gun aimed at the god's head.

"I'm not even sure what this does, but I'm about to find out." Before he could pull the trigger, however, Loki reappeared behind him and thrust the scepter through his chest. My eyes locked with the agent's, and my breath hitched in my throat. I saw the blood trickle out of his mouth. He fell as the scepter was withdrawn.

"No!" I scrambled to my feet and sprinted over to the fallen agent. Tears welled into my eyes as I kneeled beside him. His body was shaking in shock. I put both of my hands over the wound and applied as much pressure as possible. Fury had made it just as I shed the first tear.

"It's okay Coulson, the medics are on their way. You'll be fine just hold on!" His breathing was ragged as he tried to speak. I watched as he reached a shaky hand into the breast pocket of his jacket, pulling out his Captain America cards.

"Take them." He put them in my bloodied hand, making me release some of the pressure on his chest. "Give them to Rogers." Fresh tears welled in my eyes at the realization he wasn't going to make it, and he had already accepted his fate. His shaky hands grasped my wrist. "Don't give up, don't you ever give up." He shuddered his last breath and his head fell back. I was frozen to the spot despite the medics trying to usher me out of the way. Coulson was gone. The annoying jerk that stalked me for a month was never to return. I registered Fury's voice in the background talking through the communicator, telling everyone Coulson was down.

"Agent Coulson is down. The medics confirmed it." I inhaled deeply and choked back more tears. Reaching my now free hand out, I lowered his eyelids. Now he looked like he was only sleeping. I stood slowly next to the director who put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "He was a good man." I nodded. If I tried to speak right now I would burst into tears all over again. He walked me away from the scene, and I only now noticed that Loki had disappeared. I promised revenge on him to myself right there.

I entered the conference room still in a haze. Tony and Steve sat looking forlorn and I knew they had heard by now. They looked at us and immediately became concerned. I was covered in Coulson's blood and it had to look gruesome. Fury tried to gently push me into a chair but I shook my head and stood my ground. I was trembling from head to toe and fought back more tears as I looked down. The blood soaked cards were still clutched tightly in my hand.

"Cherry Bomb, what the hell happened? Are you okay?" They were standing now. Steve took a step towards me, worry evident in his eyes. He stopped when I threw the cards on the table. They slid to a stop and splayed out in front of the two men. They could only look at them.

"He believed in us. He believed in ALL of us. All you guys could do was fight like children. About what? Whose dick is bigger!? He believed we could be great. A team of superheroes who were capable of working together. A team that could save the world. He died, still believing in that. In us. He wanted you to have those Steve." Tears built up in my eyes but they did not fall; I refused. Now was no longer the time. They looked back at me with sad eyes. "You know what his last words were as he was dying in my arms? 'Don't give up. Don't you ever give up.' He never gave up on us, and I won't either. It's what he wanted." I left them speechless as I went back to my room. I had to get out of these clothes. Loki had better watch his back, because it was on.

For Coulson.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I stood in front of my bathroom sink trying to get the blood off. I didn't realize until I saw my reflection that I had splatter across my face. I must have scared the hell out of anyone who saw me. I had changed my clothes and was trying to get the remainder of the dried blood off of my hands, when I heard a light knocking on my door. I ignored it, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. Whoever was on the other side was persistent though and knocked twice more before letting themselves in. I looked up at Tony as he leaned on by bathroom doorframe. His eyes held pity and remorse.

"Don't look at me like that. I hate pity." I looked at my reflection. I didn't need his pity because I already had enough for myself. He didn't say anything for once. He only picked up the washcloth on the sink and began dabbing at the dried blood on my face. I didn't bother fighting him this time, I was too worn out. There was more fighting to come. I didn't want to look at myself anymore. I didn't even have the right to pity myself. I'm not the one who just got murdered. I sighed and pushed past Tony, flopping backwards on my bed.

"I wonder if he had a family. There could be a widowed wife and fatherless kids out there that he left behind." I forced myself not to cry as Tony sat next to me and continued wiping off my face. His company was comforting as much as I hated to admit it.

"No family, but I heard there was a cellist." I grimaced at his words.

"Well now she will never see him again. I feel like it's my fault. I could have stopped Loki. Why didn't I stop him?" The tears wouldn't even come anymore. They had all dried up and now I was choking on dry sobs.

"Don't blame yourself Cherry Bomb. There was nothing you could do. The important thing now is that we carry out his last wish. We can't give up." I smirked at my apparently permanent new nickname. Something about Tony was never one hundred percent serious, and it made me smile.

"Am I interrupting something?" Steve stood in the doorframe with an awkward look on his face. He could stand there for the rest of my life, I wouldn't mind.

"No, Tony is just being insufferable again."

"You are never nice to me after all I do for you." We both laughed. It felt like a weight lifted off my chest as we did so. The air got a bit lighter. "Really though, we need to figure out where he's going to strike next." Tony went to the bathroom to wash out the cloth and I propped myself up on my elbows.

"I suppose we could track him down again, though that may take weeks." Steve had stepped inside and joined the conversation now, and Tony returned to his spot next to me.

"No, he's going to strike soon. Loki is a full-tilt diva. He wants to put on a show, and Germany was just opening night. He wants lights, flowers, parades. He wants a billboard with his name on it. He wants to stand high above everyone-" Tony stopped mid sentence and I could almost see the light bulb flick on above his head.

"What? What?" I shook his arm, wanting to be let in on the epiphany.

"Son of a bitch." He leapt up and darted out the door.

"Tony! What is it?" I yelled after him irritated. He turned in the doorway and walked backwards out the door.

"He's going to use Stark Tower!" My eyes doubled in size. I sprung from my bed so fast I made Steve jump. Everything I read in Loki's mind suddenly came rushing back to me.

"I know what he's going to do!" Tony ran back around the corner before I could finish the sentence.

"How do you know?" I looked at Steve and realized that beyond agents that have seen my file, I only ever told Nat that I could read minds.

"I read Loki's mind, he's going to open a portal. He's probably going to do it from your tower!" I pointed to the billionaire. "He wants to bring in the Chitauri to help him take over earth!"

"What are Chitauri?" the two men asked in unison.

"No idea."

"We should tell Fury what we've figured out and get to Stark Tower. Maybe we can head him off." I nodded at Steve and the three of us made our way down the hall to locate the director. A comfortable silence hung between us, but of course that can't last long when Tony Stark is around.

"I didn't know you could read minds." I looked at him like he was insane.

"Everyone knows. We had a meeting. Talked about it in length."

"There was a meeting?" I nodded and kept my surprised expression. It took about ten seconds for it to sink in and Tony smirked. "You are so full of it." He pushed me and I laughed, falling into Steve's side. He steadied me with a hand on my back.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." He had a small laugh behind his voice for once. He was usually so serious it was nice to hear him sound happy. We found Fury with Natasha and Clint. Apparently during the attack he showed up and they somehow broke the mind control he was under. We let them know everything we figured out and were dispatched immediately to New York. Tony took off as soon as he suited up and the rest of us took the Quinjet.

'Here I come Loki, you better be ready. I'm going to tear you apart.'


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: I just wanted to take a few seconds to say thank you very much to all of my followers and reviewers. The epic amount of readers I have is amazing and you are the reason I write. Thank you.**

**Chapter 12**

I tapped my fingers on the bench nervously. I couldn't sit still. I was minutes away from the man my senses were itching to kill. A question popped into my head out of nowhere and I needed to know.

"Nat? What happened to Bruce, is he okay?" She said nothing for a minute. Clint wouldn't look back from his seat beside her, and Steve wouldn't meet my eyes from beside me. "What do you all know?" No one wanted to tell me and I began to fear the worst.

"Shea, he fell from the carrier." She didn't say anything else, but she didn't need to. There was a very slim chance of him surviving that fall. Even if he was able to survive a bullet, they had been thousands of feet in the air and the rate someone his size would have accelerated didn't leave a very big chance. Now the death toll was up to two, possibly three. Coulson, Bruce, and maybe Thor. It is possible Thor may have escaped the pod in time to fly off, but I would have thought he would have returned to the carrier by then. There was probably many more dead that I didn't even know of. Steve put a comforting hand on my shoulder, wordlessly telling me everything I needed to hear at that moment. The silence was broken by our communicators crackling to life.

"Are you guys here yet?"

"No Tony, but we're close. Have you spotted Loki yet?" I rose at Nat's words, looking to see how close we were. I could see the city skyline in the distance.

"Not yet, but I'm on my way to-"

"Tony? Tony what's going on?"

"Holy shit guys, you won't believe what I'm seeing." As we got closer we saw a blue beam shooting straight into the sky. A dark hole was expanding from the center and growing every second.

"Seeing, still working on believing." I said.

"We were right, it's coming from my tower. I think it's time to pay Reindeer Games a visit." I could now make out the trail of smoke Tony left in his wake as he jetted off towards the beam. We were now reaching the city limits. A sudden collision rocked the jet that none of us were prepared for. Steve and I both fell as Nat and Clint tried to regain control. I pulled myself back up and grabbed onto one of the bars above my head just in case.

"What the hell was that?" I yelled, looking out the window. "Oh my god." Hundreds of alien men were pouring out of the portal and swarming the city. One of them landed on the nose of the jet and began punching the glass. Natasha tightly cocked the aircraft to the right and it was thrown off. I noticed, however, that we didn't straighten back out.

"The right wing's been damaged. We're going to have to try and land this thing now!" Clint began pushing buttons and flipping switches as he said this.

"Hold on tight you guys, this is going to be a crash landing!" I did as he said and braced myself. We descended faster than we should have and hit the street below with an ear splitting screech of metal on concrete. I was thrown forward into the back of Nat's seat and heard the thud of Steve slamming into the floor. The jet finally halted and we climbed out.

The scene before us was disastrous. Aliens were everywhere. Civilians were running, children screaming, people separated from loved ones calling their names. The aliens were destroying everything in their path.

"I'm guessing these are the Chitauri?"

"I think that would be the correct assumption." I replied to the other redhead. We all ran in different directions. I ran to a group of people being harassed by one Chitauri. They were backed into a bank and the alien was closing in. Before it knew what happened I picked him up with my mind and slammed him into the back wall. He fell unconscious and I darted out the door towards another set of screams. Clint and Natasha had already made it to the bus of people so I began attacking any Chitauri that came near me. Several of them rushed me at once so I curled me hands into fists, pieces of rubble rising into the air behind me. I opened my palms quickly and the debris flew past me just as fast, taking them all out.

For every one I killed, it seemed three more appeared. I looked up at the portal to see a never ending stream of them flowing down. I wasn't as good of a physical fighter as the rest of my teammates so I had to think twice as fast. I created a barrier around myself and pushed it out, throwing several of them yards away.

"There's too many of them! We need to close that portal!" I was beginning to panic. I wouldn't be able to keep this up indefinitely. Even telekinesis and magic wore you down after a while. Fighting off so many when I wasn't used to it was also working against me.

"Working on it!" Tony's voice crackled through my ear. Thirty or so were running my way, and I tried to think fast. I dropped to one knee and placed my hands on the ground. They were only fifty feet away now. I concentrated as much as I could on the earth beneath the concrete, willing it to grow. My hands began glowing faintly and I could feel the earth borrowing my energy. Cracks began appearing in the street all over. It began to shift and break as the Chitauri stopped their approach. They looked at the ground in confusion. This bought me just enough time, as roots began climbing up through the breaks and wrapped themselves around the alien's ankles. I watched as they panicked and began shooting at the roots, but they held strong. I ran over to where Steve was playing ultimate frisbee with a few Chitauri.

"We need a better plan! I can only hold them off for so long!" I gestured to the small mob still fighting with the growing roots.

"We need more men!" Steve replied. The ground shook behind me and I watched his facial expression turn to one of surprise.

"Sorry about my delay! I landed in unfamiliar territory and spent the last hour flying around until I saw that." Thor boomed, gesturing to the portal with his hammer. A loose Chitauri tried to sneak up behind him but he swung his hammer without even a glance and sent it flying. The sounds of a dying motorcycle reached my ears and behind Thor rode up a very weary looking Bruce. A huge relief washed over me at the sight of both of them.

"What troubles you, maiden?" I now realized a lone tear escaped my eye. I hugged the God of Thunder and felt him pat my head.

"I'm just happy to see you. I thought the worst had happened."

"Fear not! I am Thor! I cannot die that easily!" I released him with a laugh and nodded to Bruce, him returning the gesture.

"Now might be a good time to see that party trick." Nat came up behind me.

"You wanted to know my secret, how I controlled my anger? That's the thing. I'm always angry." With that he began to shift and transform. His skin turned green and his height shot up. His body burst through the shirt he had been wearing and I gawked in wonder that his pants didn't tear apart as well. We all stood in a circle facing out, leaving no view uncovered. Steve rattled off orders to everyone. We all took off, my orders being to get to Stark Tower and backup Tony.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Natasha covered me as I took off towards Stark Tower. I sprinted, dodging Chitauri left and right. Thankfully most of them were kept off my trail by Tony and Clint from the air. I made it within minutes and Tony told JARVIS to give me access to his personal penthouse. The AI guided me in the right direction and took me up the elevator. I entered the penthouse; the silence was eerie compared to the fighting going on outside. I was so high up I could barely make out the sounds of battle below. I crept quietly, afraid Loki would find me before I found him.

I peeked around the corner. He was standing with his back to me, looking out the windowed wall at the chaos he had crafted. He hadn't noticed me. I tried to think straight. Even though I was angry about Coulson's murder at his hand, acting on impulse could get me into serious trouble. I entered his mind. He was completely absorbed in his thoughts. I began to try and change them. It had worked a couple of times before, the first time that day in class.

'Don't think about that. Focus.' I had to tell myself. This was the first time I was doing this with someone awake and aware. How hard could it be? He was practically daydreaming anyways. I imagined the Chitauri turning on him and concentrated on implanting that in his head. I let my anger fuel my powers; let it amplify them. Things became dark suddenly, just like they always do when I manipulate dreams. Loki was standing in the middle of the dark, unsure of what was going on. Chitauri appeared, racing all around him.

"What are you doing you fools!? The Avengers are down there!" He pointed out the now nonexistent window. His alarm heightened when he realized he was no longer standing in Stark Tower. I knew at this point he would suspect foul play. The aliens swarmed him, encasing him in a tight circle.

"What are you doing!? I am your leader! You will not disobey me!" I could hear the anger and confusion in his voice. "We are not done yet!" The swarm turned their weapons on their leader. Loki raised the scepter in defense, but an enormous roar stopped everyone in their tracks.

My concentration was broken as the Hulk came barreling through the window towards Loki. The Chitauri dissipated along with the darkness. Before the demigod could defend himself, he was lifted by his leg and slammed into the floor repeatedly like a rag doll. My mouth fell open. After one last slam Hulk threw him into the now destroyed wooden floor.

"Puny god." I laughed, I couldn't help it. The green giant's eyes locked on me but he didn't move. I kept laughing at Loki who was now squeaking in pain in the floor. I smiled at Hulk.

"That was awesome." He grinned back. It was a little scary, Hulk grinning. He then took off like a rocket back out the window. With Loki incapacitated I ran outside. I heard fighting on the roof above me and saw Nat knock out the scientist. He skidded to the edge where he awoke seconds later, shaking his head.

"The Tesseract-"

"You didn't know what you were doing doctor."

"Maybe I did." He stood up and walked over to the computer attached to the machine. It seemed Natasha's fist had a knack for snapping people out of mind control.

"What's going on?" I shouted up to them.

"When I built the machine, I installed a safety switch. Just in case of emergency. The scepter should be able to shut down the Tesseract, and I'm looking right at it." He looked down to the ledge on my left. There it was, Loki's scepter. I looked through the shattered windows at the demigod. He was still unconscious. I ran picking up as much speed as possible and jumped. I just made it to the edge of the landing and snatched up the weapon. Tucking it through my belt, I began scaling the remainder of the building to where Natasha and the doctor stood.

"We can do it guys, we can close the portal." I heard Nat convey as I pulled myself up over the edge.

"_Then do it!"_ Steve said. I pulled the scepter out of my belt and pointed it at the heart of the machine where the Tesseract sat. Slowly, I pushed it through the energy barrier. It tried pushing back but the power of the scepter was greater.

"_Hold on guys! I've got a nuke coming straight at us that's going to blow in under a minute, and I know just where to put it."_ I could see Tony off in the distance chasing the bomb.

"_You realize that this is a one way trip, right?"_ Steve asked. Tony latched on underneath it and just as it was about to hit Manhattan, he redirected it straight up. He blew past us coming within inches of Stark Tower and straight up into the portal. We all stared for what felt like forever, waiting for Tony to return. When he didn't, Steve made the call.

"_Close the portal."_ I choked back the lump in my throat. Tony had become my closest friend in the Avengers. I know we gave each other crap all the time but it was all in good fun.

"I guess this is goodbye my friend." I whispered to myself. Nat put an understanding hand on my shoulder and nodded. I returned the nod and pushed the scepter into the heart of the Tesseract, causing an immediate reaction. I felt the energy pulse and the beam shooting into the sky disappeared. The portal began closing fast. I could hear the nuke explode on the other side and all of the Chitauri suddenly fell, dead. The hole shrunk smaller and smaller and just as it closed something fell through. The glint off of the metal suit told me it was Tony.

"_Son of a bitch."_ I heard Steve say. I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Tony was picking up speed though, the opposite of what he should have been doing.

"He's not slowing down!" Nat yelled beside me. I ran to the edge as Tony passed the tower. The Hulk came flying seemingly out of nowhere and caught Tony, gripping the side of a building on the way down to slow himself. He landed on the ground below and laid the billionaire on the street. It was hard to see from up here but we could hear them through the communicators. It looked like Thor ripped his face mask off but Tony wasn't moving. I couldn't see the blue light that usually shines brightly from his arc reactor.

"What's happening down there? Please tell me he's okay." I said, hoping for good news. The longer the silence went by though, the more worried I became.

#

Thor had ripped off Tony's mask, but he wasn't responding. The light wasn't shining from his chest piece.

"_What's happening down there? Please tell me he's okay."_ Shea's voice came through my ear. I was a little jealous of her concern for him. I didn't know what to say to her so I said nothing. Hulk suddenly let out a tremendous roar, and Tony's eyes snapped open.

"Aah! What! What? Oh." I smiled a little; glad we didn't have to lose a man today.

#

"_Please tell me nobody kissed me."_ I grinned from ear to ear hearing Tony's voice through the communicator in my ear. I breathed a sigh of relief and began chuckling.

"Who would want to kiss you, Tony?" I joked.

"_I resent that. Hey, let's all just not come in tomorrow. Let's, let's all just take the day off. We don't need to come in. Anyone hungry? There's this Shawarma place about two blocks down. I have no idea what it is but I want it."_

"We're not completely finished yet." Nat said looking over the edge and through the windows. I groaned. We still had Loki to take care of.

"_Right, on our way."_ Tony's voice filtered through.

"Think you can pack this up for us doctor?" I asked, to which he nodded. He began taking pieces apart and putting them in metal cases. "Ready for this?" I asked the other woman. She nodded and we made our way through the roof door. We walked down a few flights of stairs and through a utility door. We followed that hallway to a back door into the Penthouse. It was now that I realized how exhausted I was. The leather sectional looked incredibly inviting. My entire body was sore from all the running, and my back hurt where that one Chitauri snuck up on me and hit me with his spear gun thingy. Loki was still out cold. I looked around while we waited for the rest of our team to arrive. There was a fully stocked bar on the right wall and I made a beeline for it.

"Are you going to drink _now?_"

"Don't tell me you couldn't use a drink too." I searched for the rum. There had to be some. I found a bottle in the bottom cabinet and poured myself a glass over ice. I took a sip of the spiced alcohol and felt an immediate warming sensation in my stomach.

"Tony sure knows how to get the good stuff." I leaned on the bar and took a few more sips before the elevator door dinged signaling their arrival. The doors opened to show a beat up set of Avengers. Thor looked relatively unscathed, though he was a demigod so that could have had some play in it. Hulk was still Hulk so he seemed unharmed. I'm sure Bruce would be paying for it later though. Tony was walking with a limp, every other step falling with a heavy clunk of his armor. Clint had some cuts and scrapes but didn't seem to be severely injured. Steve had a gash along his side and a few cuts and scrapes as well on his arms and a split lip.

"What a motley crew." I said giving them a once over.

"Hey, who said you could break into my liquor cabinet?"

"I didn't have to break in, it was unlocked."

"How dare you help yourself and not even make a drink for me."

"This is good, where did you get it?" By now JARVIS had removed the Mach 7 and Tony was pouring himself a glass of scotch. "You look like hell."

"So do you." He retorted as he leaned next to me on the bar. Loki groaned from his position on the floor and all of us moved to stand above him. He finally woke up and seemed taken aback by all seven of us standing over him. He pushed himself up gingerly and sat against the step.

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll have that drink now."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Loki didn't bother trying to escape while we waited for SHIELD agents to arrive. When they did they cuffed his hands and put a muzzle over his face. I was thankful for the latter because I was tired of his incessant protests about how 'he was a king' and we 'shouldn't treat him as such'. He was escorted from Stark Towers by a small army of men. I was watching all of this from my spot on the couch. It was less of a spot and more of a hostile takeover, as I had flopped across as much of it as possible. Right now it was the most comfortable couch in the world. As soon as the agents left with the demigod in tow, Tony nudged me with his foot.

"Come on Cherry Bomb, if I can't lie on my own couch right now then neither can you." All he got in response was a groan and no movement. "Come on, time to go. You can sleep later." He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a sitting position.

"No thanks, I'll stay here." He pulled harder and I tried pulling away. "But Tonyyyyyy! I'm tired!"

"Come on you can rest on the carrier." I grumbled some colorful words inaudible to everyone else and stood reluctantly. I think Nat may have picked up on a few of the things I said because a poorly concealed smirk graced her face. I followed everyone to the elevator with a sigh.

"So, how are you feeling?" I jumped nearly ten feet in the air at the sound of Steve's voice. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." I took a deep breath and put my hand on my chest willing my heartbeat to slow.

"No it's fine, I wasn't paying attention. I'm okay, a little sore though. My back is on fire and I'm physically drained. That gash looks pretty nasty." I pointed to the four inch cut that ran deep along his side.

"I'll be fine. Nothing I can't handle."

"Okay tough guy." I said with a smile, making him return it. We had made it to the ground floor and two black SUVs were waiting for us, presumably to take us back to the carrier. Clint, Natasha, Thor, and Fury climbed into the first one leaving Bruce, Tony, Steve, and I to the second one. I sat at the far back corner propping myself between the seat and window. Steve occupied the space next to me and the 'science bros' sat in front of us.

"So, uh…" Steve began nervously, shifting in his seat. He played with his thumbs for a moment looking like he was unsure of what he was going to say. "Um, so you and Tony?" He whispered so the aforementioned man couldn't hear. He was talking animatedly to Bruce though about his lab, telling him it was like candy land and he should come by once all this was over. He wouldn't hear anyways.

"Me and Tony what?"

"Are you two, you know, seeing each other?" My eyes doubled in size.

"What? No, no, no."

"Oh, haha, okay." We sat in silence for a minute and Steve looked out his window, trying to hide the red in his cheeks that I had already seen. His eyes wandered back over to me.

"Do you…. like him?" I cringed as though I had eaten something sour and waved my hands in front of me.

"Oh no, definitely not like that!" A look of relief spread across his face and he smiled.

"Good! I mean, not that it's good or bad. I mean, you two seemed a bit close is all. I was just curious, is all." He tripped all over himself, barely saving it. I smiled to myself looking out my window. I was a bit happy to know that it wasn't a one sided crush I had been having. Now I wanted to have a little fun.

"Were you jealous?" I asked without looking back. Steve stuttered for a few seconds before Tony cut him off.

"Are you kidding me? Capsicle's had a crush on you since the day you walked on the ship. He's just too chicken to say anything." I couldn't believe Tony put him on blast like that. Steve was red with anger and embarrassment. While this news made me infinitely happier I had to even the odds and take Tony down a peg too.

"Don't be mad, Tony's just jealous no one wanted to kiss him." Bruce and Steve laughed at this, and Tony laughed mockingly. Steve looked at me with a glimmer in his eye, and I hoped that meant he understood the underlying message in there. 'I want to kiss those gorgeous lips!' I wasn't going to say that though. I instead settled for more banter.

"I'll have you know women line up at my door to do more than just kiss me."

"I didn't see any."

"Well, not right now. But they do!"

"Okay."

"Okay what?"

"Whatever you say Tony."

We pulled up to an undamaged Quinjet where we all boarded to be taken back to the helicarrier, and Steve sat next to me again. The jet was a little crowded with Loki and his escorts on one side, the rest of us on the other. Being that it was so cramped he sat very close, his leg brushing against mine. I tried to keep my mind off of it but it was more distracting then I thought it would be. I looked anywhere but at him. Every time he moved his arm would brush against mine making butterflies rustle in my stomach. I suppressed the urge to giggle like a school girl at the basic contact. What the hell is wrong with me? I have much more composure than this. I needed a distraction.

"Now what?" I asked, looking at all of the Avengers.

"Well we will be debriefed by Fury and then we will return Loki to Asgard." Clint responded.

"No, I mean after that. Where do we all go from here?" the silence was deafening as the weight of my question settled in. I figured Clint and Nat would stay at SHIELD as they were full time agents and continue on with missions. Tony would rebuild and continue with his clean energy project. Bruce, I knew he wanted to originally return to Calcutta but now maybe he would change his mind and hang around Stark Tower's labs. Thor will probably be returning to Asgard with his brother, but would he return? What about Steve? I didn't even know where he lived or what he was doing before any of this.

I would most likely have to return to Chicago. Not that I didn't like the Windy City, I loved it. It was just so far away from my new friends. Over the course of a few days I had become close with these people, and I was going to miss them greatly. Especially Steve. Things were just beginning to get interesting between us too. I should have known better then to get myself into something like this, whatever this was. I was sad now, no longer feeling the butterflies in my stomach.

We landed on the carrier and took seats around the meeting table where Fury debriefed us. I was only half listening as I was still thinking about having to leave all of this behind. I looked at Tony sitting on my right, and Steve on my left. My friend, and my something more than a friend. Hopefully we would at least keep in touch.

We were dismissed to our rooms to pack our things. I had never really unpacked so all I had to do was close my bags and wait until it was time to go. I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling again. This would be the last time I would see this ceiling, at least for a while. Life was going to be very lonely from now on. I was used to being alone before, but now everything would seem too quiet without Tony and the rest. I would be returning to my mundane life of working all day for minimum wage and barely making rent. A knock on my door pulled me from my reverie.

"Hey Cherry Bomb, time to go." I threw one bag over my shoulder and carried the other one in my hand, following Tony out the door. The walk was silent, which was unusual for Tony. Perhaps he was feeling the same sadness as I about separating. We loaded ourselves back onto a jet that took us back to New York. No one said a word. We went to Central Park where we would all be parting ways. Thor held the Tesseract in a container in one hand and gestured for the still bound Loki to grab the other end. They twisted the handles activating the cube and with that they disappeared, back to their own world.

"We still have to go to Shawarma soon, my treat." Leave it to Tony to make me smile in a bittersweet moment like this. He leapt into one of his expensive sports cars with Bruce and took off. Clint and Natasha did the same in a SHIELD vehicle. This only left Steve and I. I smiled sadly as he approached me.

"So I was thinking, maybe you would do me the honor of letting me take you on a date sometime?" I wanted to cry.

"Oh Steve. I would love to, but I have to go back home now. It's kind of a far drive." His face fell slightly, disappointed in my answer.

"Well SHIELD got me an apartment in the city, but I don't mind going out of the way to pick you up. Where do you live? Brooklyn, Queens, Coney Island?" He grabbed both of my hands with sincerity saying this, making me frown.

"Chicago." His face fell, and the sadness in his eyes was hard to take. "I'm sorry Steve." I couldn't look at him anymore and looked at our feet instead. We stood there in silence for what felt like hours.

"Can I call you?" I looked up at the sound of his voice; he was smiling even though his eyes still held sadness. I returned his smile and nodded my head.

"I would like that." A black car pulled up, Agent Hill beeping once. "That's my ride; guess it's time to go." I pulled a pen out of my pocket and wrote my number on his palm. He looked down at his inked hand, and then at me. He put his other hand through my hair and pulled me in, leaving a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Don't forget me now. I'll be looking forward to your call."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Hill honked again and I sighed. "Guess you better go. Have a safe trip."

"You too." I watched him climb on his bike and ride off before getting into the car. She took me to another helicopter that flew me to O'Hare and another car took me back to my apartment. I took the elevator to the 13th floor. Unlocking my door, I dropped my bags on the floor and flopped onto my raggedy couch. Exhaustion was finally allowed to take over me and I fell asleep, one lone tear falling down my face.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

I jumped awake at the sound of my cell ringing. I rubbed my eyes groggily looking around, forgetting where I was for a moment. I for once slept peacefully without nightmares. I realized I was in my apartment, and early morning light was now shining through my living room window. My phone was on the floor next to the couch, it must have fallen from my pocket last night. It was playing a ringtone I knew well and didn't have to check the caller ID to know who it was.

"Hello?" My voice came out raspy and I had to clear my throat.

"_Hey champ! How does it feel to save the world?"_

"How did you kno-"

"_You're all over the news! Turn on your TV."_ I did as he said and turned on the news. I was greeted by clips of all of us fighting the Chitauri. Several looked low quality like they came from cell phones. Then the video shifted to people talking about what happened. One girl said Captain America saved her life and she wanted to thank him. A little boy was talking about how cool Iron Man was flying around and beating up aliens in his suit.

"Great, now everyone I run into is going to know. Ugh!"

"_Well you didn't really expect to do something that big and NOT be seen, did you?"_ I sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. I just didn't want to be bothered by people asking me about it. Now I'll know how Tony feels."

"_Tony?"_

"Never mind. So what's up?"

"_I know it's only a day later but you wouldn't happen to be home would you?"_

"Yeah, why?"

"_Open your door."_ I did as he said and opened the door to find him standing on the other side.

"Peter!" I hung up my phone and hugged him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was planning on coming to town to surprise you! Good thing I didn't come yesterday."

"Sweet!" Peter Parker, my best friend since the 7th grade. We were both misfits all through school, but at least we had each other to lean on when we needed it.

"You're a super hero!"

"So are you!" I retorted.

"Yeah but no one knows my identity. Your face is splashed everywhere now." I punched him lightly in the arm.

"Whatever Spiderman." I knew all about his secret, I was the first person he told after he got bitten at Oscorp.

"Let's get some food, I'm starving."

"You're _always_ starving. Let me change first, I've been wearing these since yesterday." I grabbed the bags I left on the floor last night and took them to my room. I pulled out a pair of black jeans, a band t-shirt, and a hoodie. The usual getup. I fixed my hair and makeup in my mirror really quick and returned to the living room to see Peter watching TV with my Cheetos.

"Come on fatty, and quit eating my food!"

We walked the streets for a while, me wearing sunglasses to try and hide my face a bit in case I'm recognized.

"I doubt anyone will notice really, you were just in New York yesterday I don't think people will be looking for you here."

"Still, just in case. I don't want to be bothered. Let's get some Beggar's, I need a pizza." He didn't argue with me as we walked into the restaurant and we took a table on the far side. He asked me for details about what had happened, and I told him the entire story over pizza. From Coulson stalking me, to Loki and the Chitauri, the Tesseract, the Avengers. It was all top secret, but I didn't care. Peter and I told each other _everything_ regardless of the situation. Afterwards we walked the streets of downtown for a while catching up.

"So, how's Mary Jane?"

"She's good; she's doing a play right now. You should come see one of her plays one day, she's really great."

"I know, I just can never afford to take pleasure trips. I can barely make rent as it is. SHIELD got me to and from New York this time." I sighed. I wish I could just move to New York, then I could be with everyone. I could see Steve again.

"You miss them, don't you." I nodded. It was more of a statement than a question because he already knew the answer. "Then forget this place! Grab your stuff and come back with me! We can find you a job and you can crash at my place until you get your own!"

"Tempting, but I can't do that. I'd be putting you out. I don't want you to support me." My phone began ringing in my pocket, stopping him from retorting. It was the default ringtone so I didn't know who it was. The screen showed a number I didn't recognize either.

"Hello?"

"_Shea?"_

"Yes?" I asked, wondering who didn't know it was me already.

"_It's Steve."_

"Steve! Hi!" I was so happy to hear from him already. I was grinning like an idiot.

"Who is Steve?" Peter asked, trying to snatch my phone.

"Cut it out Peter!"

"_Who is Peter?"_ I kept dodging Peter while trying to respond.

"Peter's my friend. Stop it!" I yelled the last part at the man still trying to take my phone.

"Who is Steve?"

"I'll tell you later now knock it off!" I yelled, swatting him away. "Sorry, my friend is being a pain in the butt."

"_As long as everything is okay."_

"Yeah, yeah! Everything's fine! So, how are you feeling? Better?"

"_Yeah, not supposed to go to the gym until I get these stitches removed though so I don't know what to do other than call you." _I smiled at his words. _"Bruce gave me this thing called a cell phone and showed me how to call you with it. I'm not entirely sure how it works but as long as I can reach you it doesn't really matter."_ Damn it, he could say the right thing and not even realize it.

"You'll get the hang of it soon, it's not so bad. Look on the bright side, now we can talk on the phone as much as we want."

"_This thing is beeping at me; I think someone is trying to call me."_

"Okay well go ahead and take the call, we can talk later. My friend is only visiting for the day anyways so I should probably go for now."

"_Okay, I'll call you again. I miss you."_ His words hit me like a ton of bricks. It hurt all over again like it was yesterday when we had to say goodbye.

"I miss you too, Steve."

"_Goodbye."_

"Later." I hung up, sad all over again.

"So who is Steve?" Peter asked again.

"He's part of the Avenger's Initiative."

"Yeah, what else is he?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. 'I miss you too Steve.' That was more than just a friend."

"I do not sound like that!" I pushed his shoulder as he imitated my voice terribly.

"You like him!" He teased me for a while longer. We eventually ended up on the top of the Sears Tower, looking out over the city as night began to fall.

"The last time we were together on top of a building like this was after that day in school." I nodded, remembering. After the whole incident that day, I ignored Peter calling my name as I cried in the bathroom. I couldn't avoid him forever though and he caught me that evening. We had sat on the rooftop of an apartment complex that night not saying anything to each other, just him comforting me with his presence.

"We should probably head back soon, it's getting dark." He nodded and we both left, walking back across town to my apartment building. We goofed off and talked about stupid stuff all the way back, trying to lighten the mood after bringing up that day earlier. We took the elevator up, laughing the whole way. I put my key into the door as Peter was talking about how he wanted to eat the rest of my Cheetos. When the door swung open, however, we froze. Someone was standing in my apartment.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: I love my readers, your reviews are awesome. That last cliffhanger got me some of the funniest comments, and more than usual. As a thank you, here is an extra long chapter!**

**Chapter 16**

Peter stood in front of me defensively. "Who the hell are you?" He asked. I shook my head and snapped out of shock.

"Tony! Why? What? How did you get in?" I was very confused. Tony Stark was standing in my living room.

"You weren't home so I picked the lock. You know this place isn't very safe, it only took me a few seconds to get in here."

"You know this guy?" Peter asked, relaxing slightly.

"Who doesn't know me? I'm Tony St-"

"I know who you are, but what are you doing in her apartment?"

"Well I tried calling Spangles earlier to tell him to get a hold of you so we could all go to Shawarma, and he told me you went back home all the way out here. Why didn't you tell me you lived in Chicago?"

"Well, it never really came up now did it? Sorry?" I wasn't sure if he was fishing for an apology or not. "I didn't have anywhere else to go so I had to come home." I shrugged.

"Nonsense. You're moving into Stark Tower with me. It'll be fun! All of us living together!"

"All of us?" I quirked my eyebrow. What was he talking about?

"Yeah! You, me, jolly green, spangles, Legolas, and the ninja! In the Avenger's Tower." I smirked at his names for everyone.

"I don't know, Tony. I want to come back, but I can't just live off of you." I folded my arms in defiance but he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Sure you can, I'm loaded!" I snorted at him. "Come on Cherry Bomb, let's pack your stuff and get going. I've got my private jet waiting." I looked between him and Peter, who was nodding at me in encouragement.

"Come on! We were just talking about this earlier! Now we can hang out and you can meet Mary Jane! Please, please, please?" Peter was begging me, hands folded in front of him bouncing on the balls of his feet. "This starving artist crap clearly isn't working out for you here! You can get a fresh start in New York! Come on, please?" I sighed and rolled my head to the side to look at my crappy apartment.

"Fine."

"Yes!" Peter whooped and punched the air. I smiled at him, my best friend. He was so funny sometimes.

"How were you supposed to get back to New York though?" I asked him.

"I was just going to crash on your couch for the night and catch a plane back in the morning, but that's kind of out of the question now isn't it?" I looked at Tony with pleading eyes, silently asking him.

"Fine, bring him too. Now hurry up I wanna get back!" I smiled, happy Peter could ride back with us. Another question popped into my head though as I began grabbing the few other belongings I had that wasn't already in my bags.

"The others, they agreed to this too?"

"Not yet, but they will." I gave the billionaire an exasperated look and rolled my eyes. He can't just assume that everyone will agree to this, but I still wanted to go just so I could spend more time with Peter like when we were younger. After high school I had moved here to pursue a career in the performing arts, but five years later here I was working at a grocery store. I had rented practice space at first for dancing, but I quickly lost that because I couldn't afford it. I practiced what I could at home and my music as well on my cheap electric keyboard, but it wasn't the same as a studio or a real piano.

"How did you even know where I lived?" I wondered aloud. Steve didn't even know my address.

"Finally found your SHIELD file. It took me forever, I had to figure out how the hell to spell your name first." This made me laugh. My name wasn't very common and almost no one could spell it correctly. "What is that anyway? Irish?"

"Yeah, my mom and dad emigrated from Ireland before I was born." I put the last of my remaining clothing into another bag with the help of Peter and zipped it up.

"Explains that accent you have." He noticed.

"Yeah, it's barely there but sometimes it comes out." I smiled as Peter and I grabbed my bags, I had four in all now.

"Especially when she's mad." Peter added in.

"Okay, I guess that's it right?" I looked at Peter for reassurance that I was doing the right thing, and he smiled and nodded. With a nudge he directed me to the door and the three of us left my apartment for the last time. Peter and I were bogged down with all of my stuff. He had his backpack along with my two large suitcases and a duffel bag. I had my guitar strapped over my back and keyboard case in one hand, duffel bag in the other. We crammed into the elevator and Tony talked as usual.

"So, Peter is it? What made you fly all the way from New York to see my little Cherry Bomb over here?" He interrogated like a father would to the boy taking his daughter to the prom. I nudged him with my elbow and told him to stop being so mean but he ignored me.

"She's my best friend, has been since junior high. I have every right to visit her when I want." He retorted defensively. He diverted his attention to me and raised an eyebrow. "Cherry Bomb?"

"Don't ask. Tony I can have whoever I want as a visitor, and you better be okay with it if you want me to stay at Stark Tower because he and I spend a lot of time together." I gave him the evil eye and he held his hands up in defense.

"Okay, just wondering. So Peter, did you catch the morning news?"

"He already knows everything Tony, I told him."

"Isn't most of it supposed to be classified?"

"Pete and I tell each other everything. Besides, he's not going to tell anyone. Right Peter?" He nodded as if that was obvious and gave me a smart ass look that I returned.

"Good, as long as you don't repeat anything you see or hear at Stark Tower you're welcome whenever. But you have to swear on your unborn child." I snorted at Tony; he could be such a dork.

"Uh, sure. I promise." He motioned like he was zipping his lips shut and then locked them and threw away the key for good measure.

"Now if only we could get Tony to do that we would be set." I joked. A limo I hadn't seen before was waiting outside and we got in, letting the chauffer put my bags into the trunk. I kept my guitar though, that always sat with me. We were taken to the airport, again, where this time I got onto a private jet. This was much more comfortable than the helicopters and quinjets I had been in the last few days. As I took a seat around a table with Tony and Peter I blew out a puff of air. It had been nothing but go, go, go the last several days and I just wanted to relax and do nothing. Hopefully I could finally get that when I got settled at Tony's place.

"I'm going to have to call my landlord tomorrow and try to explain why I took off, and the same with my job. If I still have a job that is." I rubbed my temples trying to relieve the stress thinking about it brought me.

"Don't worry about your landlord, I already took care of him. While I was waiting for you I told him you would be moving out tonight." I looked at him incredulously.

"You did what? How did you know I was going to say yes? What if I said no?" I was irritated that he just assumed he knew what I was going to say.

"Where you really going to say no even for a second?" I thought back, of course not. I'm sure one way or another I was going to agree but I didn't want Tony to know that. I chose to ignore the question as he pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed a number. Whoever he was trying to call didn't pick up, but instead of leaving a voicemail he opted to call them again. Then again when they still didn't answer. I looked at my own phone, which read 11:03pm Chicago time. If he was trying to call someone in New York they would be an hour ahead of that, so it was pretty late. However right before it seemed the person he was calling wouldn't answer again, someone picked up.

"Yo Capsicle. Meet me at Stark Tower in an hour. I have something I need to show you." I could hear Steve grumbling angrily at the other end, but couldn't make out what he was saying. He was probably sleeping and I didn't blame him for getting mad. "You'll see when you get there." He hung up on Steve after that and stuck his phone back in his pocket.

"He doesn't know you came all the way out here to get me?"

"Nope, it's a surprise. No one knows really, not even Pepper. I just kind of left."

"Steve's going to be pissed that you woke him up in the middle of the night." I told him.

"I was kind of hoping he would forget about that once he sees you."

"Steve? Is that the dude you were talking to earlier?" Peter jumped in, happy to rejoin the conversation. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"Not yet, but we're all waiting for it. They just need to get over themselves and admit they like each other." I rolled my eyes at Tony; I seem to do that a lot. I crossed my arms defensively again as Peter went on.

"I'll need to meet this guy."

"Peter, don't start."

"What? I just want to make sure he's the right guy for you. Can't have some asshole breaking my best friend's heart."

"Peter." He was acting stupid. He always did this when some guy took interest in me. Not that it happened often, but when it did he kicked into big brother mode.

"I doubt you have to worry about Spangles, let's just say he's a little old fashioned."

"I'll judge for myself." There was no use arguing with him, he would be dead set on meeting him now. All of this was giving me a headache and I went back to rubbing my temples.

"I just want to go to bed." I said.

"Well don't worry, we should be landing any minute." Tony checked his watch saying this.

"Already?" I was impressed. We had only been in the air for 45 minutes.

"Yep, this is one of my fastest jets. I had planned on making a quick round trip but, you know, you weren't there at first." I could feel us touching down and in minutes we were off and climbing into another limo. The driver took care of my luggage and we made it to Stark Tower in less than 5 minutes. I looked up at the skyscraper, the 'A' being the only letter left out of his name still attached.

'Avenger's Tower.' I thought to myself. Now I see where he got the idea. Peter and I grabbed my bags and thanked the chauffer for unloading them. Tony led us to one of the many elevators, and on the control panel there was a place to swipe a keycard. Tony did just that and then pressed the button for the 47th floor. I remembered from the other day that the top floor, the 48th, was Tony's penthouse. I must be living right below him. The ride was a longer than usual and I started falling asleep where I stood. My body was still drained from two days ago and even though I got some sleep last night, Peter woke me up hours before I would have gotten up on my own. I was happy to be back though, and this time for good. I couldn't wait to tell everyone I was back, especially Steve. I smiled when I thought of him. He was so sweet. I was glad we would still get a chance to be together now. We finally arrived at the 47th floor and the elevator opened up to a short entry hall that emptied into a living room. One entire wall was windows just like Tony's penthouse, only the balcony was a bit smaller underneath his. I set down my bags and ran straight to the couch where I promptly flopped down.

"This is where you guys will be staying. The kitchen is back here, and that hallway leads to some rooms. You can take whichever one you want; you're the first one here. You're also welcome to come upstairs to my penthouse at any time. This was put together last minute so it's not as big or nice as mine." He was interrupted by a bodiless voice that made me jump.

"Sir, Mr. Rogers, Dr. Banner, and Ms. Potts are waiting for you upstairs. They don't seem too happy."

"Tell them I'll be right up. That's JARVIS, my artificial intelligence unit. If you ever have any questions you can ask him too. Be right back." He left for the elevator to return to his own penthouse.

"Can I go to bed yet?" I asked, but Peter shook his head and dragged me up.

"You need to find your room first. Come on let's find the best one!" He ran down the hall that held the bedrooms and I raced after him. They were all pretty similar and basic looking, but one already looked lived in. I deduced it was Bruce's room as I knew he had come back here with Tony after we parted ways. I ended up choosing the one right off of the living room because it had the best view of the city from the balcony.

"I want this one." I told him.

"Good choice. I like the view."

"That's why I picked it. Okay come on, that living room had a piano. My fingers haven't touched a real one in years." We both returned to the main area and my eyes locked onto the grand piano near the window. I made a beeline for it and sat on the bench, where I had an amazing view of the balcony and the city beyond. It was 12:30am but New York's nightlife was thriving right now, the city aglow with lights. Even with the damage done, people still found a way to party. I lifted the key cover and my fingers met Ivory. I began playing whatever came to mind, just happy to play a real set of keys again. I heard Peter tuning my guitar behind me and grinned. He wasn't as gifted a musician as I was but I taught him some songs on guitar so he could accompany me when I was practicing. He strummed a few chords and waited for my lead. I began the first notes of "Just A Dream" by Nelly, and he jumped in with the guitar as he started to sing. He was a fair singer, but I liked to pick on him when he was sharp or flat.

As he sang through the first verse I heard the elevator ding and Tony's voice drifted through my ears.

"Just wait it'll all make sense in a second. Look, I brought you something." The taking stopped as I saw them round the wall out of the corner of my eye. I didn't look up though as I was concentrated on the keys in front of me, trying to remember all of the notes as I transposed the song in my head. When we got to the refrain I sang with him and forgot about the people watching us. I hadn't had this much fun in quite a long time and I didn't want it to end yet. Peter, who was sitting on top of the piano, had looked up at them as they entered but didn't stop playing, and for that I was grateful. The second verse came and I took it this time, closing my eyes as I felt the music. It was a sad song about missing an ex, but I couldn't help but smile. We got to the refrain again, then the bridge, and then we finished the song. Our voices faded out with the guitar and I finished the last of the song on the piano. Clapping arose from where the small group had been observing.

"Bravo! That was excellent! I did not know you could play a piano!" Tony continued clapping as he said this. He took a few steps closer and I mock curtsied as I got up. Steve stood back with Bruce and Pepper, looking like he just saw a ghost. I leaned around Tony to smile and wave at him. He stepped forward with the same confused look on his face and grabbed my hands.

"You're here."

"I'm here." I nodded, letting him know he wasn't seeing things. Tony had stepped aside to give us room.

"But you left."

"I did."

"And you're back?"

"I am." I had to smile. It was funny; he was so shocked he could barely make three word sentences.

"How?"

"Tony kidnapped me. I'm going to live here now."

"Really?" His eyes lit up.

"Okay lovebirds, enough of that sappy crap." Tony interrupted. I shot him a look but was pushed away. Peter had stepped between Steve and I.

"I'm Peter, Shea's best friend."

"Pete-"

"Let's just get one thing straight right now. You break her heart, I will break you. She's like a little sister to me, and I don't like to see her upset." He said all of this just above a whisper so Bruce and Pepper couldn't hear him from where they still stood. Here comes that headache again.

"Is he staying here too?" Steve asked me, not looking happy with the younger man before him.

"No, Peter has his own place he will be going back to right now if he doesn't behave." I glared as I said this.

"I'm just trying to look out for you. I don't want to see you get your heart broken again and-"

"PETER! Just drop it!" I wanted him to shut the hell up before he said too much. I didn't want everyone to know about my past relationship problems and he was tiptoeing the line. He held his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, I'm just saying." He sat over on the couch with the guitar and plucked at it mindlessly. He was mad at me now and was trying to ignore me.

"Sorry, he's a little…" I trailed off searching for the proper word.

"It's okay, I understand where he's coming from." Steve was such a sweetheart.

'God I'm gushing like a teenage girl again.' I berated myself.

"So what do you say Captain? Avenger's Tower?" Tony must have already pitched the idea to Steve because he seemed like he was mulling it over. He looked back over to me and I smiled brightly, trying to encourage him with a slight nod.

"Ah, okay. Why not?"

"Yay!" I jumped up and down and clapped.

"Great, because I already have people moving your stuff." We both looked at him like he was crazy.

"You're amazing Tony. I can't believe you." My voice was dripping with sarcasm. "He did that to me too, went and told my landlord I was moving out before he even talked to me." I told Steve.

"Well! I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow!" Tony took off before any more could be said. Pepper said goodnight before following him to the elevator. Bruce shook his head tiredly at Tony's antics before excusing himself to retire for the night as well. Peter, sensing it was time to go, got up and hugged me goodnight telling me he would text me tomorrow. He showed himself out and then Steve and I were all alone.

"So, we're all going to be living together now." I said, trying to end the awkward silence.

"I guess so." There he goes with that smile again. "I can't believe you're back. I really thought I wouldn't get to see you again, at least for a long time."

"Me too, I was so sad when I had to leave. I missed all of you even if it was just a day." The elevator dinged and a couple of men entered with boxes, presumably full of Steve's stuff. They couldn't see the floor in front of them and one tripped over my suitcase I left in the middle of the floor, sending the boxes flying. "Sorry!" I cringed, before running over to help him. Steve was right behind me and helped the man up while I grabbed the boxes that slid across the floor. "Damn, these are kind of heavy." I said opting to push them across the floor instead.

"Here, I got that." Steve picked them up and carried them over to the far wall where he set them down. "Just put everything right there, I'll take care of the rest." They nodded and went to retrieve more.

"That was entirely my fault, I left my stuff lying around." I still felt bad for the poor man.

"It was an honest mistake." I began grabbing my stuff to take to my room before the movers came back.

"Here, let me help you." Steve offered, but it was more a polite demand because he grabbed most of my bags before I could respond. He picked up both of my suitcases and duffle bags like they were empty and waited for my lead.

"You don't have to grab all of that, give me something." I tried to snatch one of the bags from his hands but he stepped away every time I reached for it.

"Lead the way, ma'am." I huffed as I picked up my keyboard and showed him to the room I picked. He set my bags along one wall and looked around. "Stark knows how to go all out doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he spares no expense." It was true. Though the room was simple it was also big and the furniture looked expensive. A large flat screen adorned the wall opposite the king size bed. I heard the elevator again and we returned to the living room. I put my guitar back in its case and set it in my room as well.

After the movers finished bringing up all of Steve's stuff, he moved it all into the room across the hall from me. It was nearing 2am now and I couldn't hide the yawn that rose in me.

"I suppose we should hit the hay." I nodded sleepily as we stood in the hall in front of our rooms. "Goodnight, Shea." He nodded to me with a tired smile. I walked backwards into my room, never breaking eye contact.

"Have sweet dreams." I closed the door with a smile, not hearing Steve's response.

"They will be."


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Now that things are winding down for the time being, we will get to see more of Shea's personality and learn her back story. This is where the real fun begins!**

**Chapter 17**

I cracked my eyes open a little to see everything washed in sunlight. I promptly squeezed them shut again with a groan. I didn't feel like getting up yet and the sun was too bright. I buried my face back into my pillow and stayed there on my stomach a bit longer. I usually used this for thinking time if I didn't have to get up immediately.

I remembered I was in the now Avenger's Tower, and was kidnapped last night by Tony with the help of Peter. I actually didn't feel all that bad about leaving the way I did, because there wasn't much left for me in Chicago anyways. The advantages of moving vastly outweighed those of staying. I'm not even sure there were any to staying. My apartment sucked, I could barely afford it, and the neighbors were almost constantly partying or having ridiculously loud sex. I was always alone, and had a crap job. I could never practice my music or dancing properly either. I guess the only thing I'm going to miss is the city itself. I really like Chicago. On the bright side, I get to live in _Stark Tower_! Now it's the Avenger's Tower but still. My new job being a superhero is MUCH cooler than ringing up people's groceries.

I reached my hand out from under the blanket and fumbled blindly for my phone. I knew I had left it somewhere in that general area of my new bed. My fingers wrapped around cool metal and I brought the screen to my face. The digital display read 10:17AM. I noticed it was reset to New York time, the GPS knew the change in location and reset itself it Eastern Time instead of Central. I didn't wanna get up, the bed was too comfortable. As far as I'm concerned this is the most comfortable bed ever. I snuggled deeper into the bed, surrounding myself with the blanket and many pillows. I tried to make myself go back to sleep for a while longer, but my stomach usurped me.

I begrudgingly threw the cover aside and got out of bed. All of my bags were still along the wall, as I had been too tired to unpack anything last night. The only thing I had taken out was a pair of black sweatpants to sleep in. I opened my door to a silent apartment. Either Steve and Bruce were still sleeping, or they were already gone to god knows where. Deeming it safe to enter the common area looking like I did more than just sleep, I made my way to the kitchen. There was hardly anything in there to eat. I would need to remedy that very soon.

I found a carton of eggs and some bread, so I went with scrambled eggs and toast. To my sheer delight I also happened upon coffee. I promptly brewed a pot while making my eggs and though it wasn't my favorite brand or flavor, it would do for now. I sat on the couch with my breakfast and channel surfed while I tucked in. I would have to relearn all of the channels and had no idea where to look for any of my favorite shows. What was worse, Tony had over a thousand channels. I'd be here all day.

"Damnit. Where's SciFi?"

"Channel 382, Ms. Farrelly." I almost spilled my coffee, forgetting this building could talk to me. "My apologies, I did not mean to startle you."

"It's okay, I forgot all about you, and thank you." I flipped to SciFi and made a tiny squeal in delight that Merlin was on. A thought hit me and I wondered if JARVIS would know about something like this. "JARVIS, you wouldn't happen to know where everybody is would you?"

"Dr. Banner is in the lab with Mr. Stark and Mr. Rogers is in the gym."

"Thanks!"

"You're most welcome miss." Happy I didn't have to make myself presentable anytime soon, I settled in with my coffee and watched what apparently was a Merlin marathon. The schedule that appeared at the corner of the screen told me so. I got through a second episode before JARVIS' voice filtered through the room again.

"Ms. Farrelly, Mr. Rogers is on his way back up. I thought I should warn you since you asked of his whereabouts earlier." I leapt off the couch with wide eyes.

"Thank you JARVIS!" I ran to the kitchen and put my dishes in the sink before darting to my bedroom. I looked at my reflection. Yep, definitely looked like a hot mess. I needed a shower anyways, I still never had one since I've been on the carrier. I grabbed my bathroom necessities and entered my attached bathroom for the first time. "Whoa." The bathroom was huge. There was a Jacuzzi tub as well as a large marble shower with water jets on the left and right walls and the ceiling. A long countertop stretched one wall with a marble sink in the center. I set my stuff down on the counter and took my shampoo, conditioner, and body wash into the shower with me.

It was the most awesome shower I ever had. I probably spent more time in there then I should have because I was playing with the jet settings. After I was sufficiently clean I wrapped myself in one of the big fluffy towels hanging from the rack. I did my routine in the mirror and let my hair air dry, tying it up into a high ponytail. I went back into my room, got dressed, and went back out into the common area. Steve was standing with his back to me, watching Merlin. He seemed a bit perplexed and didn't notice me walking around to sit on the couch again. I watched him watching the TV, his facial expressions entertaining me more than the rerun on the flat screen. He looked like he had been standing there since he got back from the gym. He was in a pair of sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt, and had a towel thrown over his shoulder. His bangs were matted to his forehead in sweat, and his shirt adorned sweat lines around his finely chiseled chest.

'He is so yummy, I wish he wasn't wearing that shirt. I sound like a teenage girl again. Shit, I'm staring. I hope he doesn't catch me, because I don't want to stop. Should I say something? This is rude, I shouldn't be ogling him like a horny freshman.' The TV went to commercial and Steve turned to walk to his room, but froze at the sight of me. I covered up my ogling with a smile hoping I was faster than he was.

"Hey, you seemed pretty into it so I didn't wanna bother you."

"Oh, yeah. Modern television still confuses me, I have no idea how they make some of that stuff look real."

"Working out?" I questioned, motioning to his attire. His eyes turned to a look of recognition as he sees himself.

"Yes, sorry, I meant to go change I just got distracted." He rubbed his hand on the back of his head nervously. "I wanted to change before you saw me like this."

"It's fine, you don't need to apologize." 'I could look at that all day.' I thought that last bit to myself as I smiled again. He stood there smiling back for a good 30 seconds before he noticed. It was cute.

"I should probably go clean up." He motioned to his room and I nodded in response. As he walked away I took full advantage of checking out his delicious backside. I felt the extreme urge to grab those firm cheeks overcome me, and it was a good thing when he shut his door. I didn't want to embarrass myself by following through. My phone went off in my pocket telling me I had a text. It was Peter.

_Want a grand tour of the city? Afterwards we could go see MJ's play._

I texted him back.

_Sure! When?_

I only waited a minute for a response.

_Now. I'm out front._

What was it with everyone assuming I'm going to agree to everything these last two days? I growled slightly and got up to get my shoes and purse. I could barely hear Steve's shower running from the hall and debated leaving him a note. I knew he wasn't one for texting so I ripped a blank page from one of my notebooks and scribbled a quick note.

_Steve,_

_Went out with Peter, be back later._

_Shea_

I thought for a minute before adding an extra line.

_P.S. – Don't miss me too much!_

I sat it on the coffee table before leaving with Peter for the day. He showed me around some of the less common areas of the city. He showed me the best places to eat, the coolest nook and cranny shops, and even his work and apartment building. Then he took me to a theater to see the show MJ was in, and he excitedly pointed her out to me. She was gorgeous, and I smiled. I was happy for him. He had a beautiful girlfriend who loved every part of him, including Spiderman. After the show, he introduced us.

"It's good to finally meet you; Peter doesn't shut up about you." I told her, flattering her and earning Peter brownie points at the same time. It wasn't a lie. I probably knew a disturbing amount of information about her by now.

"I finally get to meet the famous Shea. I owe you thanks, I was in that bank the other day when you saved all of us."

"Don't thank me at all, I was just doing what anyone in my position would have done."

"So is being a superhero a best friend's thing or something?" She asked jokingly. We wandered the city for a little bit talking until my phone went off in my pocket. It was Tony this time.

_Hey Cherry Bomb, we're going out for Shawarma. Where are you?_

"Peter, where's Shawarma? Tony wants me to go."

"We can drop you off there." I texted Tony back.

_Meet you there, Peter will take me._

I put my phone in my pocket thinking that was the end of the conversation but it made noise again.

_You know, all that time you're spending with your buddy is making Spangles jealous._

I decided to ignore him, but it did make me smile. Steve is jealous over me? That's flattering. We walked to the restaurant where all of the Avengers were waiting outside. Clint and Nat were back too.

"Took you long enough! Finally, let's eat!" Tony turned and entered the restaurant followed by his science bro and the assassins. Steve stood back.

"Well, this is where we part." Peter said.

"Yep, I'll catch you guys later." I waved as they walked away, then turned to Steve.

"Shall we?" I asked. He politely offered me his arm and I wrapped mine under his elbow with a smile. "You're really charming you know that?" I said to him.

"I just know how to treat a lady." He smiled down at me. "Who was that girl?"

"That's Mary Jane, Peter's girlfriend." His smile grew even bigger. "Why are you smiling like that?" He shook his head.

"Just, he's got a pretty girl."

"Uh huh." I gave him a skeptical look. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was smiling because he was happy Peter _had_ a girlfriend. Tony did say he was jealous but I didn't want to believe him. "So you think she's pretty?"

"Well not nearly as pretty as you, but still pretty." I grinned, nice save. He was getting more comfortable around me, complimenting me openly like that. He led me to a table where everyone else was already seated and we all had dinner. When we left Steve and I opted to walk; it was a nice night and we weren't that far from the tower. I laced my arm through his again and grabbed his elbow with my other hand. I realized how much bigger he was than me. He was more than a foot taller than my 5 foot frame. Not to mention his ridiculously perfect muscles and broad shoulders.

"It's so strange; everything is so different yet still the same." I knew he meant compared to the 1940's. I didn't say anything and let him continue, knowing he didn't talk about his past often. "It feels like only a few months ago. I was frozen for nearly 70 years but it's as though I only woke up from a nap. 70 years later." I gave his arm a gentle squeeze, letting him know I understood and was here for him. He was silent after that and I didn't push him. I knew it hurt talking about it, and the wounds were still fresh. I tried to distract him with a little bit about my own past.

"You know, my entire life I was the odd one out. No one liked me, I was bullied in school. After a couple of incidents with my powers the kids mostly left me alone."

"What about Peter, he's your friend right?" I nodded.

"We met in 7th grade. He was the odd one out, just like I was. We created a bond over that. No one liked us, and we didn't like them. We stood up for each other when some of the braver bullies tried picking on one of us. We've had our share of ups and downs together. He's like the brother I never had. When you called me in Chicago yesterday, he had flown out to visit me after seeing me on the news." I added as an afterthought. "He's the only guy I've ever had in my life I could depend on. Always there when I need him, sometimes even before I realize it myself." I ended thoughtfully. We had made it back to Avengers Tower, the lone 'A' shining brightly in the darkness of the night sky.

"What about your father?" He asked, and I involuntarily cringed.

"That's a story for another time I think." He nodded in understanding and didn't say another word on the subject. I swiped my keycard and we rode the elevator to the 47th floor, my arms still around his.

"So, about that date." He said, and my face lit up like Christmas. I tried to play it off though.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot." 'No I didn't.'

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing. Why, what did you have in mind?" I asked. He leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"It's a surprise." The elevator doors opened to the living room and he walked out, leaving me slightly pink. His breath over my ear had caused butterflies in my stomach and I tried to stop the blush I felt rising.

"Hey, wait!" I chased after him. He looked back at me with a teasing smile and offered me his arm again. I quirked my eyebrow at him and gave a light snort. "What, gonna walk me to my door?" I asked.

"Well I wouldn't be a proper gentleman if I didn't." I laughed, but went along with his charade.

"You're a sweetheart, Steve." I said as we stopped in front of our bedrooms. We faced each other and he grabbed both of my hands. "I still need to unpack; all of my stuff is sitting in bags." I said with distaste.

"I would be happy to help you if you'd like."

"You know, you don't need to make excuses to spend time with me Steve. You only need to say so." I teased.

"Well I would like to spend time with a beautiful young dame and help her unpack her things, if that's okay with her of course." I giggled at that.

"Dame?" I wondered aloud. Steve looked thoughtful for a moment before he explained.

"It's a word used to describe a woman of power, or importance. Not to common a word anymore I think, given your confusion." I nodded.

"Yeah, but I like it."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

We spent the next hour or so unpacking my things. I immediately began putting away my clothing so Steve wouldn't stumble upon my unmentionables. As I was stuffing a few drawers of my dresser full of my clothing, Steve grabbed one of my duffle bags and began removing the contents.

"What is this?" I looked over my shoulder as he sat on my bed, a large book in his hands. The realization of what he was holding brought a smile to my face and I moved to sit next to him.

"It's my photo album." I grabbed it from his hands and opened it. The first page was pictures of Peter and I from junior high. We both looked very young and my hair was still dirty blonde back then.

"Whoa, is that-"

"Peter and I." I nodded, finishing his question for him.

"You look so…. different." He trailed off, shocked by my appearance in the photographs. I pointed at one in particular. "Is that a leather collar?" I laughed.

"Yeah, I was a little more intense back then. I still like to wear a lot of black but I've toned it down a few notches."

"Why do you wear so much black?" I wasn't expecting that.

"Um, gee that's not a common question. Most people just take us for face value and generally leave us alone." I racked my brain for an answer.

"Us?" I shook my head trying to straighten out my thoughts, too many questions too fast.

"People who like to dress dark. Goths, Punks, Emo, etc. There are differences between them but for the most part we all like dark and alternative clothing." Steve still looked confused so I tried to explain the differences the best I could. "It's more of a lifestyle for most of us, not just a choice of clothing. I guess you could have called me Goth. I wore a lot of corsets, bondage pants, heavy jewelry, and dark makeup." I flipped to another page with a picture of just me dressed similar to what I just described, and the slightly freaked out look on his face made me laugh.

"Why did you wear so much black though?" That question again. I pondered it for a moment, before deciding to just answer as honestly as possible.

"I don't know, really. I guess I don't really have one exact answer. The whole idea was very attractive and I felt much more comfortable in it. I felt more like me, like it gave me my identity. A lot of people want to speculate that's because life dealt me such a crap hand, but it actually made me feel better about my situation if that makes any sense." Steve nodded slowly and we sat in silence for a few seconds.

"So why did you stop?"

"You have a lot of questions today. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to dig up personal information." I teased, making him smile down at me.

"Only what you're willing to share, I won't push you to say anything you don't want." He flipped another page of the album while saying this.

"Well, I didn't really stop. More like I got lazy, and my tastes changed. I still like wearing dark colors, but I'm a lot more laid back then I used to be. I prefer the comfort of dark jeans, black band t-shirts and hoodies now. I express myself in different ways, like dying my hair bright red."

"Well I like this you better, it's not as scary." We laughed together as he flipped farther into the book. As we passed the high school photos he noticed that all of the pictures so far were either Peter or I, or both, and voiced his confusion.

"Like I said, Peter was all I had back then. No one else to take a picture with me."

"There are so many though."

"Peter's hobby was photography, so his best friend was his favorite subject to photograph. That camera was glued to him at all times. Trust me, there are _many_ more than this, I just took some of my favorites. You know, he's a photo journalist now. Takes pictures for the Daily Bugle." He nodded but I could tell he was becoming a little annoyed at my constant talk about Peter. "Sorry, I'm just proud of him. He was able to get a job in a field he loves." I stood awkwardly and continued unpacking the bag Steve had started. It contained mostly personal belongings including my laptop, small collection of books, and my shoe box. I promptly slid the box under my bed while Steve was still occupied with my photo album.

"Who are they?" Steve pointed to another picture. I took my place next to him again and my heart jumped. I had forgotten about that one, it was a photo of Pete and I with an older couple. I tried to answer as vaguely as possible so he wouldn't read too much into it.

"That's Peter's Aunt May and Uncle Ben." I left it at that and gently took the book from his hands again. I closed it and set it on the desk. "Aren't you supposed to be helping me?" I redirected.

"Sorry." He promptly got up and began helping me put the last of my things away. He looked as though he wanted to ask me a lot more, but held his tongue. He didn't press as promised, so he must have understood it wasn't something I was willing to talk about right now.

"So," I began, trying to lighten the mood. "Where are you taking me tomorrow?"

"I told you, it's a surprise." He gave me a sexy smirk, and I thought I might melt.

"Oh come on, please? I need to know." I put on my cutest pout, but he resisted completely.

"You'll just have to wait until tomorrow." I gave a small 'grrr' in frustration and pretended to be mad at him. Before we knew it we were done and it was late. Steve bade me goodnight with a handsome smile and left me to my thoughts. I flopped onto my bed with a huge sigh.

"He is so sexy." I said to no one. I didn't bother to move, and just laid there until I fell asleep with thoughts of Steve in my head.

The next morning I woke up to Tony pounding on my door.

"Wake up Cherry Bomb!" When I didn't respond right away he banged some more. "Come on darling! Wakey wakey!" I looked at my phone, 9:07AM. I growled lowly and threw my covers back, stalking to the door. The banging didn't cease until I ripped the barrier open and glared up at the smiling Iron Man.

"Do you have ANY idea what time it is!?" I yelled. I hated being woken up, it was the worst thing in the world for me. I turned into a tiny fire breathing dragon and destroyed small towns when woken up this early. "What could you possibly want!? You had better hope it's good or you're dead!"

"Whoa, slow down there sparky! It's breakfast time! Come on!" I was so mad all I could do was squeak.

"You woke me from one of the best dreams ever for that?" It wasn't a lie; I was having a very hot dream about a certain Captain and it was just getting to the good part if you catch my drift. I wasn't going to tell Tony that part though.

"Yep! Let's go!" He grabbed my arm and dragged me out of my room.

"Wait! Can I at least get dressed?" I was still in a pair of black sweats and yesterday's t-shirt. Not to mention my hair was a mess.

"Don't worry! With that bed head Capsicle won't be able to stop the dirty thoughts from coming." I had no time to think and my thoughts were so scrambled I couldn't continue my angry rant as he dragged me to the elevator and pressed the button for his penthouse. The door pinged open and I followed him sleepily into his kitchen. I remembered the hair tie around my wrist that more often than not was there, and flipped my hair upside down. I tied my kinked curls into a messy knot and flipped back up, seeing everyone else already around the kitchen. "Look guys, I brought grumpy-pants!" I glowered at him and silently shuffled to the half full coffee pot. My still asleep brain could only focus on one thing at a time and when there was coffee, it became top priority. I shuffled over to the island counter with a few barstools around it and hopped up on one. "Did you seriously just _jump_ onto that chair?" Tony's voice rang through my ears. I sipped my elixir and ignored his mocking laugh. "You're such a cute little leprechaun."

"I can't help if the chair is taller than me." I grumbled quietly, but being the only sound in the kitchen everyone heard me. My eyes met Nat's from the table as she shook her head and smirked. I tried to avoid Steve's eyes; after the dream I had last night I couldn't think about him without my face getting hot. I was afraid if I looked at him he would somehow know. I decided to concentrate on my coffee cup.

"What's the matter? Still mad I woke you up?" 'Yeah, that's it.' I thought to myself. We all ate breakfast with Tony's mouth running a mile a minute. Normally I would have some witty quips for him but my brain still wasn't fully awake yet. Nat, Clint, Tony, Pepper, and Steve all sat around the round table talking while Bruce and I silently shared the island. I appreciated his lack of conversation this early and I had a feeling he felt the same. He kept to himself, sipping his coffee and reading the paper. I snuck a look at Steve while he was in conversation with Pepper. He was in a tight white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, and his slightly damp hair showed he had come from the gym not long ago. My face got hot as the dream came back to me and I felt the sudden need to leave the room. I quickly finished my food, pouring myself more coffee and made to exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" I heard Tony say after me, but I kept walking to the elevator. I pressed the button and the door opened immediately as though it were waiting for me. I stepped in and pressed the button for the floor below, urgently pressing the door close button in case Tony decided to chase me. The doors began to close and just when I thought I made it a hand shot between them and pushed them back open. Steve stepped in and sent me a small smile, which I returned before averting my eyes to the very interesting floor.

"Hey, I didn't think I'd catch you." I hummed in response, trying to keep myself under control. I just had a very raunchy sex dream about the man I am currently stuck in close proximity with, and I needed every ounce of self control right now. "Right, not a morning person." I was glad he wasn't one to press and could take a hint the first time. The door opened to our floor and we both exited. "Meet me out here at 12, dress casually." He passed me with another sexy smirk and left to his room, presumably to shower. I let a huge sigh of relief pass my lips as I reentered my room and shut the door.

'Oh my god, that dream is going to be the end of me! What is wrong with me!? This isn't my first sex dream, why does this one feel so wrong? Probably because he's still a virgin. He's so proper and polite, it feels so dirty!' I rubbed my face vigorously to try and get myself together. I wasn't a virgin by any means, but I sure was acting like it. It had been so long since I had even gotten any, and I sighed knowing we wouldn't be doing anything soon between us. I didn't want to before he was ready though, I felt like it would be very wrong to violate his innocence. I would let him initiate when he was ready. 'That could be forever from now.' I looked at the time, 9:43. I couldn't go back to bed now; I was already on my second cup of coffee and was finally waking up. I settled for a very long hot shower in which I tried to 'relieve' myself of those pent up feelings. Nearly an hour later I got out and took my time getting ready for the day. I had time to kill and needed to keep my mind off of that dream before I got myself hot and bothered again. I did my hair and my usual eye makeup of black eyeliner and mascara. I put on a pair of black jeans, a Ventana t-shirt, and my Batman hoodie. It was only 11:30, but I went out to the living room to watch some TV. Before long Steve came out of his room in khaki slacks, button down shirt and a brown leather jacket.

"Here I thought I was going to be early." He said. I smiled and got up, forcing myself to look him in the eye this time and forget about the dream for now. He offered me his arm like last night and I happily obliged.

"So where are we going?" I asked as he took me to the elevator and we went down.

"You'll see." The glint in his eye told me he was thoroughly enjoying teasing me.

"But!" That's all my stupid brain could come up with. Way to go, Shea.

"No buts, you'll see soon enough."

'Damn that smile.'


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Thanks for the reviews guys!**

** Cara Tala – Ask and you shall receive!**

** BabyBeeBee – I know, I only saw the movie once in theaters so I was guessing most of the**

** lines and when I got the dvd and watched it again I was so mad. I butchered almost**

** all of them. Sorry about that!**

**Chapter 19**

Steve walked me to a small diner for lunch. The entire walk there he told me he was taking me to a place he and Bucky used to go to all the time. I then asked him who Bucky was and he went into an entire story about how he was his best friend. He told me about the fights he used to get into that Bucky would save him from, how he had rescued him from capture during the war, and fighting alongside him. His face darkened when he recalled the day he died and then quickly changed the subject. I felt terrible for him. He was ripped out of everything he knew and loved and thrown into the same world where nothing was the same. He left behind all of his loved ones.

"You know, you're handling your situation very well. If it had been me I would be furious. I don't know how you do it."

"I am very upset by it, and I'm still trying to come to terms. I try and take out most of my anger on the punching bags in the gym." I nodded in understanding as we entered the restaurant. We sat in a booth in front of the windows and after placing our orders, tried to find something else to talk about.

"So, are all men from the 1940's as handsome as you?" That earned me a blush from him. He pulled on his collar and cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his composure.

"I guess that depends on your opinion of handsome. I don't exactly look at men that way so I couldn't tell you." His shy smile didn't go unnoticed.

"Well I'm glad you're here now. There aren't a lot of men like you left."

"What do you mean?" He furrowed his brows in confusion.

"You're so chivalrous. You're polite, you're respectful, and sweet. You're a really good guy."

"I'm only doing what is right. It's how I was raised." He said matter of factly.

"That's a rare thing nowadays. I can honestly say this is the first time I've gone on a date with a guy who talks to me, not my chest." He looked suddenly alarmed and I couldn't suppress the fit of giggles that arose from me.

"That's, that's just not right." He looked appalled. "That's no way to treat a lady, and that's highly offensive."

"Well sadly, that's what we can expect now. A lot of the women are no better, flouncing around in public in miniskirts and dangerously low cut tops. Then they wonder why men act like such dogs around them." I shrugged saying this.

"Well I appreciate a conservative woman. It's nice to know someone still has a sense of decorum."

"Honey please, I need to keep this under lock and key. No man could handle all this." I gestured to myself confidently. I smirked when I realized I had caught him off guard again and his eyes drifted out the window to avoid looking at my body.

"You know, all of your shameless flirting isn't very ladylike." He said with a chuckle. I just gave him a thousand watt smile and didn't admit or deny anything. Our food came and we thanked the waiter before digging in. An awkward silence hung over us as. Finally after I finished most of my food I tried talking again.

"So, was there a lucky lady before you made your time leap?" I was cautious in my words. I knew his past was still raw in his mind and this could very well be a touchy subject. The look in his eyes told me I was correct.

"Um, sort of. We weren't exactly together at the time, but we had made a date. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it because I was frozen in the ice." He was very solemn and I knew I had dug up a grave I shouldn't have. He refused to meet my eyes and instead stared blankly at the table. I reached out and grasped his hand gently.

"Oh Steve, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up-"

"No, no it's okay don't worry about it. Besides, I'm here with you now. That is what's important." He squeezed my hand gently. We finished our meal, hands still entwined, and the check came. I picked it up to see the total but had it promptly snatched out of my fingers.

"Hey!" I widened my eyes at him, questioning him with my gaze.

"I've got it." He stated simply, pulling out his wallet.

"I can split it with you or something." I offered, but he shook his head pulling out cash.

"No. I'm supposed to be taking you on a date. You're not allowed to pay for anything." I huffed, knowing there was no arguing with him. He was old fashioned and wouldn't hear it. I let him pay and then we left. He walked me around his old neighborhood and pointed out places he used to hang out, and where he used to get into fights. We ended up at Central Park eventually where we got ice cream and wandered aimlessly for a while.

"So are there any crazy ex boyfriends I need to know about?" I snorted.

"I'm not sure crazy is the right word."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say I have a knack for picking the wrong kind of men." I laughed nervously, not really wanting to think about it. "The first one wasn't really that bad, but they got progressively worse. I quit dating after a while, and this is the first date I've been on in two years." I didn't feel like meeting his eyes, afraid they would make me blurt out too much. I felt his hand cover mine. My arm was laced through his again, and my other hand was resting on his bicep, effectively hugging his arm. His hand was much larger than mine, completely covering it in a comforting way. I dared a peek at him and he was smiling down at me.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me right now. I want you to feel comfortable telling me anything." There he went again, saying the right thing. I was putty in his hands. I sighed.

"I've dated four guys in the past. Like I said the first one wasn't so bad, just your standard perv trying to get into my pants. As soon as I knew what he was really after I dropped him like a brick. The second one was a self centered jerk. He thought he was god's gift to women. That one didn't last very long either after I met his _other_ girlfriend." I watched his eyebrows shoot up in surprise but he didn't say anything, letting me continue. "He called me a bitch when I broke up with him too. The next one, I thought was a really nice guy at first. He knew how to play his cards though and got what he wanted, turns out he was just a really good liar and I fell for it. I made the huge mistake of sleeping with him."

"Sleeping with him?" He finally interrupted. I didn't understand his question though.

"Yeah, I slept with him."

"I don't think I understand." Oh. In an era where marriage before sex was prevalent I should have known they wouldn't have had too much slang for it.

"We had sex. In hindsight he was a real ass too. I really regret losing my virginity to him." I waited for the disgusted look, or snide remark, but none came. His only reaction was to furrow his brow and continue staring ahead on the path we were walking. I decided to keep going. May as well lay all my cards on the table. "He broke up with me pretty soon after that. The last guy I dated was the biggest mistake in my life. I wish I could say I should have known from the beginning what he was really like, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. He was nice enough at first, but after a couple of months I started to see the other side of him. He started to call me names, and he liked to throw things. We got into fights a lot. The night I tried breaking up with him, he lost it. We fought for hours and when I tried to leave, he threw me into a wall." I took a deep breath and kept my eyes trained on my feet. I was too embarrassed to look at him while I finished the story.

"He jumped on me. He tried ripping off my shirt, telling me I was asking for it. I screamed as loud as I could and he punched me in the face. I struggled against him as he tried forcing himself on me. I elbowed him in the nose and that got me a few seconds. I ran like hell out of his apartment and down the hall where I bowled right into a bunch of cops. Turns out one of his neighbors called the police when they heard me scream. They arrested him and took me home after they took my statement and made a report. That was the last I ever saw of him." We both were silent after that. I braved another look at his face, and he was watching the ground seemingly in thought. He was squeezing my hand now and his jaw was firmly set. He was trying to hide how upset he was but I could read his face. "I'm sorry, that was too much too soon wasn't it?" I asked.

"No, I'm glad you felt like you could tell me. I'm just angry a man actually put his hands on you like that. I wish I had been there." I smiled at that thought. Steve would have pummeled him into the next millennium.

"Well it's over and done, nothing can change it now. The part I regret most was not fighting harder. I'm actually embarrassed by how easily I was overpowered." I refused to meet his gaze and found the sidewalk most interesting.

"Don't be. You we're caught off guard and you did what you needed to, you survived. Hey, look at me." We stopped and he put his fingers under my chin, trying to make me look up. I moved away and tried to hide the lone tear that had escaped down my cheek. "Look at me." He repeated, moving in front of me. He put his hand on the side of my face, gently guiding me to his eyes. "What he did was wrong, and you deserve to be treated much better than that." His thumb brushed my cheek as he wiped away the tear. "You deserve to be treated like a princess." I couldn't help but smile at that. This was all a little cliché but he was cute so it was okay.

"Well I guess I'm just waiting for my knight in shining armor." Steve said nothing as he leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

We had returned to the tower after our walk in the park and I was immediately stolen by Natasha.

"Sorry Steve. Can I borrow her for a bit?" She didn't wait for an answer as she grabbed my arm, dislodging me from his side. She dragged me right back into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

"What are we doing?"

"We are going to the store because we have hardly any food in our kitchen and I cannot stand constantly going to Tony's to eat. He's beginning to drive me mad."

"Doesn't he have people for that though? Can't we just tell him what we want and he makes whoever go get it?"

"Yes, but I needed to get you away from your boyfriend for a while." She grinned slyly.

"He's not my boyfriend." I mumbled.

"Yet. Come on, I want all the details about your date."

"How did you know we had a date?"

"I was eavesdropping when you came in last night. I heard you asking where he was taking you and put two and two together." I smiled wryly as the elevator opened to the first floor. "Well, how was it!? Did he kiss you?" She shook my arm gently saying this. We got into a car and Tony's chauffer/bodyguard Happy drove us to the nearest grocery store that wasn't destroyed.

"It was nice. He took me to lunch at a diner he used to frequent with his friend, and he walked me around his old neighborhood. We talked, a lot. He's only kissed me on the forehead so far, but I think he's just trying to take it slow." I decided not to reveal the fact that he had an old flame he was still getting over or my terrible track record for boyfriends. I was tired of talking about sad stuff for now. "He hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet, but I'm hoping he will."

"Of course he will. Trust me; he's only got eyes for you. It's cute really, the way he fawns over you when he thinks no one is looking." I raised my eyebrows.

"When was this?"

"All the time, he always stares at you like he's lost in thought and then starts smiling. Like your first day on the carrier." My eyes widened slightly in surprise. How did I ever miss that?

"Either you guys are really perceptive or I'm really oblivious."

"You're really oblivious. He's incredibly obvious in his staring." I gulped back the nervous lump that was forming in my throat. Was she serious? Nat wouldn't lie to me about something like this. If it were Tony she would have told him to get out of here by now.

"Hmm." Was all I could say, this new piece of information was going to be tucked away to be studied later. We pulled up in front of a fairly undamaged store and Happy told us he would wait there for us. "How are we going to pay for all of this? Not that I mind chipping in but we're living with three men who I'm sure will suck down food like Hoover vacuums. I don't have that much." She said nothing as she reached into her pocket, pulling out an American Express with the name Tony Stark across the bottom. We shared an evil grin and ran into the store.

Forty minutes later we emerged with two carts full of bags. Happy insisted on loading everything into the trunk for us so we climbed back into the back seat while we waited.

"I wonder if he'll even notice I took his card." Nat said nonchalantly.

"He doesn't even know? I thought he gave it to you!" I smiled at her deviousness.

"Nope, took it right out of his wallet. He really shouldn't leave it lying around."

"I love you, Nat." Happy drove us back to the tower and helped us carry the grocery bags to the elevator. A couple of people were recruited by him to help and we made it in one trip. After we got it all in the elevator we told them we had it from there and thanked them. We then began the long ascent to the 47th floor surrounded by bags of food.

"We're riding an elevator, crowded with food, and we can't even move or we will step on something. We look ridiculous." I said, making her smirk at me.

"I wonder if I should just keep this card for now, and see how long it takes for him to realize it's missing."

"I'd do it. Add some extra charges to it too while you're at it." I loved Nat; she was always willing to be evil with me. The elevator dinged signaling we had made it to our destination and the doors opened. Clint leaned over from his seat on the couch to look at who had arrived. His eyes lit up with excitement when he saw our haul.

"Food!" He leapt off the couch and ran over, Nat piling his arms with bags.

"Help us with these will you? Take these to the kitchen." He grabbed as many as his arms would allow and Nat and I began pushing the bags into the hall. I kept my foot against the door to keep it from closing. After we got everything out of the lift I removed my foot, letting the doors shut. Clint came back and grabbed more and this time we followed him with bags in our hands. We put everything over every counter surface we could find.

"You guys sure got a lot of food."

"Living with you, it'll be gone in a week." I snorted at Nat. She and Clint acted like an old married couple sometimes.

"Where's Steve?" I tried to sound like I didn't care, but Nat shot me a mocking look.

"He's in his room I think. Hey Steve!" Clint shouted his name. It only took a few seconds before I heard a door open.

"Yeah?" His voice flitted through the living room and into the kitchen.

"We have food!" Clint said excitedly. Nat and I rolled our eyes at him. Footsteps could be heard as we continued unpacking everything. Steve entered the kitchen and looked slightly taken aback by the amount of groceries we were putting away.

"Wow, that's a lot of food."

"That's what I said! I can't wait to eat it all." I deadpanned and silently dared him to with my eyes. "Kidding!" He raised his hands in surrender. Steve approached from the other side of the wraparound counter and began helping. With the four of us we were done in less than 15 minutes and we now had a fully stocked kitchen.

"Now I don't have to deal with Tony every time I need something to eat." Natasha said.

"Now he has no reason to wake me up at nine in the freaking morning." I huffed, crumpling the bags together and throwing them out.

"You really hate mornings don't you?" Nat said.

"I don't believe in waking up when the sun is still over there." I pointed to the East.

"Are you a vampire?" Clint asked with a mouthful of Cheetos. This make me laugh. "You're psychic, you can read minds, do magic, you're creepy looking, and you hate mornings."

"I am not creepy looking!"

"Do you sleep in a coffin? Is there a coffin in your room?" Nat was pursing her lips to avoid smirking. I rubbed my hands over my face in exasperation.

"If I show you there's no coffin in my room will you let it go?" He nodded and I led him to my room, opening the door. "See? No coffin. I'm not a vampire." I closed the door and went to the living room where Steve and Natasha now stood.

"Smile." I whipped around to face Clint again.

"What?"

"Smile. I wanna see if you have fangs." Nat was giggling by now and Steve was looking at me apologetically.

"I don't have to deal with this. I'm going to see Tony." I harrumphed and spun on my heel, marching over to the elevator.

"I knew it! You have fangs! You don't want to show them to me!" I growled quietly and stepped into the lift, glaring lightly at Clint before the doors closed. "I do not have fangs." I muttered to myself. The doors reopened seconds later and I stepped out into the familiar penthouse.

"Cherry Bomb! You missed me!" I smiled and rolled my eyes at the playboy who was rounding his couch to come greet me.

"No, I'm just running away from Clint. He thinks I'm a vampire."

"Well you are kind of vampish. I wouldn't blame him."

"Whatever."

"Drink?" He offered, raising his glass of scotch to signify his meaning.

"Yes please." He walked to his bar and pulled out a tumbler.

"What's your poison, my dear?"

"Rum and Coke please, dark rum." I specified. He poured me my drink and I did a little shimmy.

"What was that?"

"That was my happy dance. Rum and coke makes me happy." I took a sip of the aforementioned drink and shimmied again.

"You're a special one." I stuck my tongue out at him and followed him back to the leather sectional. Something about being around Tony brought out my inner child and reduced me to a 12 year old. I stole the remote from his hands and channel surfed. "Hey, I was doing that!"

"My turn!" I singsonged. I kept pressing the channel button until a familiar show flickered across the screen. "Ooh!" I flipped back to it. "Yay! I love this show!"

"The Big Bang Theory?" He questioned.

"Yeah! This show is awesome!" he shrugged and settled in to watch it with me. Within the first three minutes he was laughing harder than I was. "See? I told you it was awesome." He shushed me and I shook my head. I moved, tucking my feet under myself and leaning against the arm rest. At the end of the episode I suddenly needed to use the restroom. "Tony, where's your bathroom?" He directed me down the hall and I left as he poured himself another drink.

I wandered in the direction he pointed me and found it relatively easy. Afterwards I decided I wanted to snoop a little more. I walked further down and entered another room, finding his bedroom. To say it was nice would be a severe understatement. A sudden idea struck me and I cackled evilly. Revenge would be sweet.

#

I walked back into the living room to see Tony engrossed in another episode of Big Bang Theory.

"What happened? You fall in?" He joked. I made a face at him though he wasn't looking.

"No, it just took me a minute to find it."

"Come on, I made you a fresh one." He patted the seat I was occupying earlier and I noticed in front of it was another drink.

"Trying to get me drunk, Tonykins?" I plopped down next to him.

"Of course. It's much more fun when I have someone to drink with."

"Why, so you can take advantage of me?" I smirked.

"I don't think Spangles would appreciate that." He snorted. Did everyone know? Was I really that oblivious this entire time? I refocused on the TV show, laughing again. We watched the rest of the episode with almost permanent smiles on our faces, Tony loving all of the science intertwined in the show. By the end we were sufficiently buzzed. Tony made some very strong drinks.

"I still wanna see that tattoo you have." He caught me off guard; I completely forgot he saw that. I decided I may as well mess with him while he was drinking.

"Which one?" I raised my eyebrows innocently. I saw his eyes gleam with curiosity.

"You have more?" I smiled innocently and looked out the window to his balcony. "Where?"

"That's for me to know and you to go crazy trying to find out!" I leapt up off the sofa and took off, Tony chasing me. I yelped when I was lifted off my feet and thrown back onto the couch, laughing.

"Come on let me see!"

"This is burning you alive isn't it?" I teased.

"Yes!"

"Well, since you admitted it…" I pulled out my phone and opened the pictures, finding the one of my back piece. I showed it to him.

"Wow. That's elaborate, and big."

"And expensive." I added.

"Not as cool as seeing the real thing, but I'm sure Capsicle wouldn't be thrilled if I saw you topless. I don't need any more injuries." He added, rubbing his neck subconsciously. "What else do you have?"

"I have one behind my ear." I turned so he could see the tiny ink. "And one on my foot." I lifted my left foot and wiggled it. I wasn't prepared for him grabbing my sock and trying to pull it off, and yelled when he pulled me off of the couch. I fell with a loud thud and groaned. "Oww my butt!" He ignored me pulling off my sock to see my foot.

"That's hot." He began tickling me foot and I shrieked.

"NO! TONY! STOP!" I kicked wildly, trying to escape. He pulled me back towards him by my ankle and sat on my legs. He relentlessly tickled my sides while I thrashed, laughing. We couldn't hear the ding of the elevator over my laughing and Tony telling me to say uncle.

"What's going on!? Is everyone okay!?" Tony let up for a moment, turning to see who had barged in. Steve looked perplexed, Clint was suppressing a smile, and Nat just crossed her arms and looked at me with exasperation. I took this moment to try and recruit help.

"Tony is tickling me!"

"Okay children. Play nice or I'll make you go outside." Clint joked. Tony contemplated the three for a minute but decided they weren't a threat and returned to torturing me.

"AHH! NO TONY!" I shrieked as all the air left my lungs again and flailed as much as I could. I tried kicking my legs and successfully kicked him off of me. I sat up and tried catching my breath. "I hate your face." I said when I regained some air.

"No one can hate this face, it's perfect." He sat on the floor across from me. I kicked him in the leg and all he did was laugh.

"What the hell are you two even doing up here?" Nat piped in.

"Did you guys know about this?" He grabbed my foot and held it up for the room to see. They stepped forward to get a better look.

"Wow, nice ink." Clint said as Nat nodded in approval. Steve looked a bit confused. He rubbed a couple of fingers across my skin inspecting it.

"Is this a….. tattoo?" He asked, uncertainty written all over his face.

"But wait, there's more!" Tony pulled me to my feet and went for the hem of my hoodie.

"Tony!" I yelled, smacking his hands away. Steve stepped forward and pushed Tony away.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, his voice held a dangerous note to it. Tony put his hands up trying to calm the larger man.

"Okay, let's all calm down." I said, putting myself between the two. At least I could stop them from coming to blows. "Tony wasn't trying to undress me." I said, trying to calm Steve down. He looked down at me and then back at Tony before stepping back.

"I need another drink." Tony decided, walking to his bar.

"You have a tattoo?" Steve asked, confused.

"Three." I confirmed.

"Only sailors and servicemen got tattoos in the 40's. It wasn't very common until recently." Nat explained.

"Apparently much more has changed then I originally thought." Steve replied.

"Well, it's only now becoming somewhat mainstream to have a tattoo, or any sort of body modification. There are a lot of people that still snub you for having one. When I started body mods about ten years ago you wouldn't believe how many people were freaked out by it." I clarified.

"Wait, wait, wait. Ten years ago? You cannot be that old. Your file said what? 23?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, started when I was like 12 or 13." I shrugged like it was no big deal.

"You got a tattoo when you were 12?" Clint said disbelievingly.

"No, I said body mods. That doesn't encompass just tattoos. I started with ear piercings and gauges." I gestured to the gauges in the bottom of my ears. "I got more piercings as I got older, then when I was 18 I got my first tattoo." I pointed to the one behind my ear. "From there I got a couple more and moved to facial piercings."

"Wait, I knew the nose was a piercing but that one is too?" Tony pointed by my eye.

"Yeah? It's a microdermal. What else would it be?" I said condescendingly.

"Well excuuuuussee me Ms. Smarty Pants." I made a face at him for the second time that night.

"It's not for everyone, but I love it." I said with finality, reclaiming my earlier spot on the couch. More Big Bang Theory was on.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Merlin, I am exhausted. Three of our eight employees who work the desk didn't work this past week. One was on vacation, another had a family death, and the last went into the hospital. Needless to say, I had to cover. I worked 60 hours last week. Thankfully today my schedule is back to normal and I can write the next chapter. I apologize for the delay.**

**Chapter 21**

I for once woke peacefully on my own. I yawned with a stretch, reaching for my phone with my eyes still shut. After fumbling around for it my hand met cool metal and I cracked one eye to check the time. 11:34. I yawned again and rolled over, snuggling back into the blanket. I had another dream about Steve, although this one was PG. We were snuggling on the couch watching movies and I was explaining modern culture and devices to him as he saw them on the screen. It was cute, and it left a smile on my face as I woke. I wished it were real. I laid there for fifteen minutes trying to convince myself to get up. It was hard; the bed was so warm and comfortable. Finally as noon neared I pushed myself up and groggily rubbed my eyes. I felt lazy today.

I checked my reflection in the mirror and sniffed myself, deciding I could pass on a shower for now. Combing my curls was a feat in itself. I usually only combed my hair right before a shower to release any knots, and right after when it was still wet. Dry combing my curls always resulted in serious fluff and left me looking like an older red Hermione Granger. Today I would need to break out the flat iron. I set to work and a half hour later I expertly straightened every bit of my long hair. I put on some eyeliner and didn't bother putting on real pants, my sweats were too comfortable. I changed my shirt and wandered out of my room. I found no one, as usual.

'Geez, does everyone constantly train around here?'I wondered in my head. I went to the elevator and ascended one floor to find my other best friend. When the doors reopened Tony was nowhere to be found in his living room, so I moved to the kitchen. There he sat with coffee in his hands next to an amused looking pepper. He looked exhausted, and shot me an angry look when I walked in.

"What's wrong Tonykins? Didn't get much sleep?" I asked innocently.

"I slept just fine, until my alarm went off at 4:20 in the morning. I thought it was just a mistake, until I turned it off and it went off again a half hour later. Then again at 5:12, and 5:35, and 6:17, and again, and again, and again, twelve times total. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" He asked, though it was rhetorical. My smile had grown with each time he had mentioned, and I was grinning ear to ear by the time he finished.

"It sucks being woken up when you want to sleep, doesn't it?" I replied, earning another dirty look. Pepper covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the laugh she almost released. I skipped over to the coffee pot, pouring myself a mug before joining them at the table.

"You know, I did have a surprise for you but now I'm not sure I want to give it to you." I perked up immediately at this.

"A surprise? What is it? I wanna know!" I begged with wide eyes.

"I don't know, I'm not sure you deserve it." He smiled wryly.

"Tony!" I pleaded, giving him my best googly eyes. He smirked.

"Do you have an iPod?" He questioned, completely throwing me off.

"No, I have a Zune. It's much better." I said, almost as if it were a question.

"Go get it."

"Why?"

"Just get it, you'll see when you come back." I looked at him questioningly, but did as he said. Curiosity won as I rose from my chair, mug in hand, and returned to the elevator. I returned to my room and found my Zune in my bedside drawer, then returned to Tony's penthouse. I reentered the kitchen waiving the device.

"Okay I have my Zune, what's the surprise?" Tony smiled, rising from his seat.

"Follow me." He led me to the elevator and pressed the button for the 45th floor.

"Where are we going?" I tried to ask. He shushed me though, earning a sigh in return. The doors opened to a hallway with a few doors lining it. I looked at him curiously but he just walked down the hallway ignoring me. I decided to follow him before the doors shut on me. He led me to the second door on the left.

I never in a million years would have expected what was on the other side of that door. My eyes widened and my jaw fell; I looked at Tony and back to the room. The large open space was covered in vinyl and wood flooring. One entire wall was covered in mirror panels from ceiling to floor.

"Merlin's beard! Tony! You built me a dance studio!?" I nearly shouted, shaking his shoulders.

"I guess that means you like it." He smirked. I jumped up and down clapping my hands with a squee. He was caught off guard when I leapt onto him. He wrapped his arms around me in a laugh while I hung around his neck still squeeing.

"This is the best surprise ever!" I let him go and bounced into the room, smile plastered on my face. As I walked further in I noticed the mobile ballet bars along the wall, on wheels so I could move them wherever in the room I needed them.

"Let me show you the best part." He gestured me to follow him to a cabinet on the wall. I stood behind him as he opened the large cherry wood doors to reveal an expensive high tech sound system.

"Sweet! Where are the speakers though?" I searched the room but came up empty.

"They're embedded in the walls. You can't see them, but they're there. Now, let me see that Zune." I handed it to him, finally giving up looking for the hidden compartments where the speakers could be residing. He docked it right in front of the system and turned it on; the sounds of Rob Zombie filling the room.

"This is so awesome! Tony, you are the best. I love you!" I jumped on him with another squee of joy.

"Don't let Capsicle hear you say that." He joked, patting me on the back. I was beyond excited. It had been years since I had seen the inside of a studio, and now I had my very own to use whenever I wanted.

"Why did you do this for me?" I had to ask, feeling a little taken back that he would go to such lengths to make me happy.

"I want my friends to be happy. You love music and dance, so I built you a studio. The assassins love to fight, so I built a state of the art training facility for them." He pointed up, indicating said facility was on the floor above them. "Spangles likes to punch sandbags, so I made him a gym with reinforced everything so he couldn't break them." He pointed out the door.

"So this is where he disappears to every morning?" I asked, moving toward the door.

"Right down the hall." I looked further down the hall where he mentioned and saw another door further down and on the opposite side. I couldn't hear any signs of Steve being on the other side of the wall but that didn't mean anything. I shrugged and turned back into my new studio, grinning like a mad woman.

"You really are the best. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"You can repay me by taking full advantage of everything I'm giving you and enjoying it." I rolled my eyes and gently punched him in the arm. "Can we eat now? I'm hungry." I laughed, grabbing my Zune and turning it off before following Tony back to the elevator.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

I was still bouncing on my toes in happiness, and I couldn't wait to get back down to my new studio to break it in. Tony had half begged, half forced me to make him lunch. He said it was my punishment for messing with his alarms, but I knew it was really because Pepper had to leave for a meeting and he didn't know how to cook. I made a couple of grilled cheeses and ate with him. Afterwards I hugged Tony one last time, darting for the elevator.

"Where are you going?" He called after me.

"To try out my present!" I said, not stopping. I swiftly changed into my tights, leotard, and shorts once I made it to my room and grabbed my small dance bag. I skipped back to the elevator, and then all the way down the hall to my studio. I turned the lights back on, marveling in the size of the room once more. I docked my Zune and scrolled through the artists until I selected Lady Gaga. Not my normal music choice, but she was great to dance to.

I sat on my knees, hands on my thighs, panting. It had been a long time since I had been able to dance like that. To move so freely in a large space; I had forgotten how tiresome it could be. I flopped to the side, reveling in the cool wood that made up the floor. I laid there for several minutes until my heartbeat slowed. When I regained my breath I changed the music, going for some Pitbull and Jay Sean. I was freestyling for several minutes before I noticed the person standing in the door.

#

I have been searching for Shea for several minutes now. After breakfast I had done my usual morning workout. Afterwards I returned for a shower and lunch. I wanted to see if she was interested in spending the afternoon with me but I couldn't seem to find her. I knocked on her bedroom door but got no answer. I couldn't find her with Natasha either. Maybe she was with Peter again? I couldn't deny that the thought of that created a small twinge of jealousy within me even though he had a girlfriend. I was a little jealous of anyone she wanted to spend time with instead of me. Not that it would be fair if I hadn't invited her first, but it still bothered me a bit. I went up to Tony's floor to see if she was hanging around with him again. No one was there either, and he began to grow slightly concerned as he pressed the button for Tony's labs.

"Heya Spangles! What brings you to my neck of the woods?" Tony looked up, seeing him enter.

"I was looking for Shea. Is she here?"

"Nope, haven't seen her since she took off for her studio a few hours ago."

"Studio?" I raised my eyebrow, wondering what he meant.

"Yeah, I made her a dance studio. She's an aspiring dancer you know. She's probably still in there; could barely contain herself when I showed it to her." He said with a smirk.

"Where is this studio?"

"Floor 45, across from your gym." I rolled my eyes at his usually irritating smile and made for the elevator once more. I pressed the button for the floor my gym resided on and exited when the doors opened. I walked down the seemingly quiet hall until I neared my gym. I could hear the faint sound of music from the door to my left. I hesitantly opened the door and peeked my head in. A large room met my eyes as the music grew louder, and a small figure was prancing about the room. I focused on the redhead leaping and turning about the room. She was beautiful, and I could not take my eyes off of her. She was an enigma to me. Beautiful, smart, witty, and powerful. I stood there watching her for several minutes before she saw me through the mirrored wall and paused.

#

"Hey, how long were you standing there?" I put my hands on my hips. His cheeks flushed at getting caught staring and he cleared his throat.

"Only a moment, sorry." I smiled at his awkward reply.

"It's okay. Like my studio? Tony built it for me." I gestured around myself.

"It's very nice. He spares no expense as usual."

"So what's up?" I asked, moving to the sound system to turn my music off.

"I was actually looking for you to see if you wanted to spend the afternoon together." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, his voice trailing at the last few words.

"Sounds like fun! What did you have in mind?" I approached him, bag in hand. We exited my studio as I flipped off the lights and shut the door.

"I was actually thinking maybe we could watch a movie together?" I smiled.

"Okay, did you have anything in mind?"

"Not really. I figured there's so much I haven't seen you could pick."

"Do you like comedy?" I said with a smile.

#

I was doubled over in stitches, holding my sides. Steve sat next to me half confused, half laughing. There were several things about the movie I had to explain for him, but the comedy still translated through for the most part. _Think Like A Man_ was the perfect movie to help him understand modern day relationships, and it was hilarious.

"See why this is one of my favorite movies?" I asked once I had regained the air in my lungs. "It's so funny."

"I like it." He agreed, smiling at me. "So is this a fairly accurate representation of relationships these days?"

"For the most part, yeah. It's a completely different world from the 1940's isn't it?"

"Very." He nodded. We went back to the movie in comfortable silence. It wasn't really silent, we were laughing the entire time. I answered his questions here and there and before we knew it the movie had ended. He was still chuckling well into the credits and I stood to take the DVD out.

"Wanna watch another one?" I asked while sifting through the movies.

"Sure, why not?"

"What should we watch this time? Action? Horror?"

"Anything is fine." I turned around and stuck my tongue out at him for not helping to which he just smiled.

"Fine, we're watching….. this!" I grinned triumphantly holding up the case.

"The Boondock Saints?" He questioned.

"Yes! This movie is epic. It has a cult following you know. One of the best movies ever made." I said, popping it into the player. I stood and moved to the kitchen as it played through the previews.

"What are you doing?" He called from the couch.

"Making popcorn. A movie like this deserves popcorn." I pulled a pack from the cabinet and put it in the microwave. I grabbed two sodas from the fridge and poured the popcorn into a bowl, moving back to the living room. The movie was now at the menu as I put the snacks on the table and plopped down beside Steve. I ended up a lot closer to him then I meant to sit, but I didn't want to give him the wrong signal by scooting away so I stayed there, hoping he wouldn't notice. I pressed play and settled in for two hours of fighting and blood.

Partway through the movie I noticed our shoulders touching, and I hadn't realized that we had leaned into each other. The bowl of popcorn had ended up on our laps and we were practically snuggling. Steve either hadn't noticed or didn't mind, so I wasn't going to say anything. I shifted slightly, tucking my feet underneath myself to get more comfortable. This also gave me the added bonus of leaning into Steve more. He moved his arm to rest on the couch behind me, and I smiled a little at his less than smooth gesture.

A thought suddenly hit me. 'This is just like my dream! I'm psychic!' I said to myself. 'Oh yeah, I AM psychic. Derp.' I chastised myself, I was psychic. Though prophetic dreams weren't my forte, and they're usually few and far between, I must have had one last night. I felt his arm drop around my shoulders and froze. I was afraid if I reacted he would recoil, so I just kept staring at the TV. I reached for a handful of popcorn and so did he, our hands brushing together. I finally looked at him and smiled, and I watched the hesitation in his eyes fade away as he smiled back. I took the opportunity to snuggle into his side and get comfortable. 'This is awesome! Please don't let this end!' I decided I should probably pay attention to the movie again. We were nearing the shootout scene in front of the house when I heard the elevator ding. I willed whomever it was to walk on by and ignore us, but I should have known better. Everyone here liked to nose in each other's business, and I was guilty of it too. Clint's head popped in the doorway and he grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"Hey Tasha! Look at this!" I narrowed my eyes at him. Before I could yell at him, though, Nat walked by and snatched him up by his collar, dragging him out of sight. I snorted and shook my head. Steve and I shared a glance before our eyes returned to the screen. The movie neared its end and as the credits began to roll, I sat the popcorn on the table and stretched in my spot.

"So, what did you think?" I turned to him.

"It was very violent."

"And awesome!" He chuckled at me.

"It was pretty good." He agreed. I took that as outstanding seeing as he didn't get half of it due to modern everything. We smiled at each other and my eyes were glued to his. Those baby blues were sucking me in and I couldn't look away. I barely registered the gap between us closing until his lips collided with mine.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Time stood still.

I was frozen to the spot, my eyes glued shut. I feared if I opened them, Steve would disappear and I would wake from this dream. I felt his lips against mine, unmoving, unsure. After what felt like ages I felt him pull away. I slowly opened my eyes to meet his and noticed how close we still were. We stayed that way for a moment, both of us unsure what to do. Suddenly he rose.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I just-" I stood, cutting him off by waving my hands. I wanted to stop his rant of self doubt but wasn't sure what to say. My hesitation was out of fear of pushing him away and part disbelief, but apparently he was taking it as rejection.

"Did you mean it?"

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Did you mean it, when you kissed me?"

"Well….. yes." I grabbed the collar of his shirt and brought him down to my level, lips colliding once more. This time it was different though. This time I was confident. He could feel it too and wrapped his arms around my shoulders instead of shying away. He pulled me up against his chest, returning the kiss. I released my fistful of his shirt and laid my hands against his shoulders instead. Kissing him was very different from any of the other men I've kissed. His kisses weren't full of lust or desperation, they were sweet and caring. He was kissing me, not my body. It wasn't too long of a kiss, and when we broke apart I met his eyes.

"Then don't apologize. Don't ever apologize for expressing your feelings to me if you mean it. If you ever want to kiss me, then you damn well better do it." He smiled at my words, arms still around me. "And if you ever want to say anything to me, you damn well better say it." I added. He brought me to his chest again and rested his chin on my head, just holding me.

"There's a problem with that though. What if I constantly want to kiss you?" I looked up at him surprised at his sudden boldness. Then again, I pretty much demanded him to speak his mind. He smiled down at me and planted a gentle kiss on my lips. "What if I wanted you to be my girl?" His blue eyes bore into mine, waiting for an answer. In the back of my head I was dancing and doing backflips.

'Steve flippin Rogers is asking me to be his girlfriend! Oh my god! He's still staring at you, give him an answer Shea!' I was yelling at myself.

"Are you crazy? Of course I'll be your girl!" I smiled at him, for a second he probably thought I was going to shoot him down. He grinned from ear to ear and I felt my feet suddenly leave the ground. I squealed in surprise but it turned into a laugh as he spun me in a circle.

"My girl." He said, putting me back on my feet. He kissed me on my forehead before resting his chin on my head again. We stood there in each other's embrace for a while. We were content. This is the Avengers Tower though, and nothing is ever peaceful for long.

"Woo finally! I gotta tell Tony!" I turned my head to see Clint in the doorway before he sprinted for the elevator. I sighed, and Steve and I shared a knowing look. Nothing was ever kept secret here, and everyone wanted to know each other's business. Especially Tony.

#

Tony had found out and immediately called for a celebration, which brought us to where we are now. Everyone was gathered in his living room and I had invited Peter too. He had been slightly miffed when I told him why he was coming over, but relaxed a bit by the time I got a chance to talk to him.

"I'm just worried for you, you know? You remember what happened last time."

"I know, and it's okay Peter. I'm naturally on edge too, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. If you're that worried about him why not talk to him yourself? Get to know him? Then you can judge his character. I'm sure you'd actually like him if you knew him." He seemed to contemplate this for a few seconds before nodding slowly.

"Okay fine, but if he ever mistreats you-"

"I know where to find you." I assured him. We had been having this conversation as we rode up in the elevator. Peter didn't have a keycard to access the top floors so I had to go down and get him. We arrived to Tony's floor and joined everyone else. I was slightly surprised to see Bruce there as I figured he wouldn't leave his lab. I deduced Tony must have forced him into coming. What really threw me off guard was the Norse god of thunder learning how to play Rock Band with Tony.

"Thor?" I was bewildered.

"Lady Shea! How have you fared? I hear you and the Captain of America are together, no?" He boomed.

"Eyes on the TV Point Break!" Tony yelled, struggling to keep the two of them alive. Thor refocused on the screen pressing buttons on his guitar. Steve looked relatively bored, but perked up when he saw me enter. I noticed the weary glance he shot at Peter. Bruce was lounging on the couch, smiling at Thor's attempts at video games. Nat and Clint were standing at the bar talking between themselves. The song finished and they barely passed.

"So, what are you doing here? How did you get back?" I wondered aloud.

"The power of the Tesseract repaired the Bifrost and travel between the realms has become possible again! I returned at once to see my Jane and then Man of Iron invited me to a party! Spectacular isn't it?"

"Does he always yell like that?" Peter whispered in my ear.

"Yeah, we're pretty sure he only has one volume. Ear bleeding." He snickered and Clint and Nat finally noticed the additional person in the room.

"Should we be talking about these things with someone else in the room?" Nat asked warily.

"It's okay, he already knows everything." I replied.

"Yes, and we have a deal. Anything that he sees or hears in the tower, stays in the tower." Tony gave a pointed look to Peter saying this.

"What? Tony Stark enforcing rules and keeping secrets?" Bruce chimed in sarcastically. I could tell Tony has rubbed off on him.

"Peter, you already know Steve and Tony." I began. "This is Bruce, Thor, Clint, and Natasha. You guys this is my best friend, Peter." Bruce nodded at him, Clint raised his glass and said a "Hey", and Nat shook his hand politely. Thor on the other hand bounded over in large strides and clasped his arm enthusiastically.

"Hello Peter, friend of Lady Shea! I am Thor! Son of Odin!"

"Uh, hey! Nice to meet you!" Peter said awkwardly.

"Cherry Bomb! Play Rock Band with me!" Tony demanded.

"Okay!" I pranced over and picked up Thor's forgotten guitar as Tony switched to battle mode. "I pick the song!" I shuffled through the music and picked The Pot by Tool. I upped the difficulty from easy to hard and the battle began.

#

I stood off to the side watching Shea and Tony trash talk each other while they played. This just reaffirmed my belief that she was a big kid. Well, not really big. She was pretty short. I smirked at my own jokes in my head when I sensed a presence behind me. I turned to see Steve. My smile fell as I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Look, Peter, I know we got off on the wrong foot and I would like to start over." He held out his hand for me so shake. I eyed him for a minute, thinking over what Shea said. Get to know him and then judge. It was a good idea actually. After discerning that he meant it about starting over, I grabbed his hand and shook it. I nodded towards the balcony and he got the hint, following me outside. Here we could talk more openly without others listening in. We stood in silence for a minute, both of us looking out at the evening skyline.

"I understand your reasons for wanting to protect her." He began, breaking the silence. "She told me about the previous _men_ in her life." He said that word with such distain; I could almost feel the hate coming off of him in waves. It's good to know he doesn't approve of the way they treated her, and the way he let it bother him told me he wasn't that kind of man.

"Did she tell you that right after her last boyfriend beat her up, she called me bawling her eyes out? Did she tell you I tried to go see her, but no flights were leaving because of a snow storm so I got in my car and drove for nearly 14 hours in that storm to get to her? Do you know what it's like to see your best friend running to you, clothes torn, beat up, tears streaming down her face all because of some asshole that couldn't keep his hands to himself? To hold her and tell her everything is going to be okay while she sobs in your arms and begs you to stay with her because she's afraid he's going to come back? Do you?" I said angrily, emotions rising inside me from memories of that night. He only shook his head. "Then don't pretend you understand why I protect her the way I do." We stood in silence for minutes upon minutes not looking at each other.

"I give you my word." Steve began. "I will never lay an ill finger on her. I could never bring myself to treat a lady like that. I don't know why men treat women so horribly these days, but where I come from we were raised to respect women."

"1942 was a very different time, wasn't it?" I asked. He seemed slightly surprised. "I did my research after Shea told me who you were. It wasn't hard; you're literally a piece of history." He nodded in understanding.

"Very different indeed."

"I'm sorry for overreacting when we first met. I only want the best for her. She's practically my sister." I looked back through the windows saying this, watching her jump up and down. She had won and was taunting Tony. The two promptly began another round and didn't even notice us missing. I smiled at her antics. "She is such a child." I commented. "She never had much of a childhood." I added as an afterthought.

"What do you mean, exactly?" Steve questioned. I sighed, wondering if I should be the one telling him this. I had a feeling he would find out eventually, but I knew it was a subject Shea rarely talked about and it could be forever before she even mentions it. I rubbed my face with both hands, preparing for the story ahead. I decided it would be better to sit for this and Steve took the space next to me.

"Her family didn't live in the safest neighborhood. When she was nine, their house was broken into while they were asleep. They heard movement and her and her parents woke, but they told her to hide in the hall closet and not come out until they told her to. She watched everything from the cracked door. Her parents confronted the robbers, threatening to call the police. The intruders didn't flee though. Instead, they attacked. Her mother was stabbed to death, seventeen times. They bludgeoned her father to death with a baseball bat. They took what they wanted and left, Shea cried silently the entire time. She was terrified they would hear her and kill her too. When the next morning came and she didn't show up for school the teacher called home. They eventually called the police to check up on the family after three days of no one answering. They found her parents dead, and her still hiding in the closet." I paused, letting the story sink in before I continued.

"She was completely petrified. The police tried questioning her, but she never said a word. They put her into foster care after finding no immediate family members to place her with. She jumped from home to home, each family saying the same thing. That they couldn't handle her, she was out of control, she refused to listen, and she refused to talk. She acted out a lot. Who could blame her? She had no friends in school and she watched her only family being murdered in front of her eyes. She was all alone." I looked back over my shoulder, making sure no one was looking for us.

"When seventh grade began I saw her eating all alone in a corner of the cafeteria. I was mostly a loner and an outcast, and she seemed to be in the same boat as me. I made a friend that day. She never spoke to me at first, and I know now that when she finally did, it was the first time she had spoken since her parents' death. She frequented my house and never wanted to go home. She hated her foster family. When that family gave up on her too my aunt and uncle offered to take her in. They never treated her any different and loved her like their own. She lived with us until we graduated and she moved to Chicago." Nothing was said for a while after that, and I'm sure it was a lot for him to process. He watched her through the glass for several minutes.

"She's such a happy person." He finally said.

"She is now. She has a habit of bottling up all of her emotions and anything bad that's happened and suppressing them, pretending like it never happened."

"I'm sure having you as a friend was a great help. She seems much better off." He said. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you live with your aunt and uncle?"

"Long story short, my parents were killed when I was young also. They took me in. I guess we had that to bond over."

"You two better be making friends!" I nearly jumped out of my skin hearing the voice right behind me. We turned to see Shea with her hands on her hips. "What are you doing out here? The party is in there!" She grabbed both of our hands and dragged us back inside. Steve met my eyes, and I knew a better understanding had been reached between us.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

A week had passed since Steve and I had gotten together. To say I was happy was an understatement; I was downright giddy. Later that night I had returned to my room and screamed into my pillow. Steve had taken me on an additional date since then. He took me to a very nice restaurant for dinner and the entire time I told him he didn't need to take me to such an expensive place. I didn't like people spending a lot of money on me and I felt guilty he did that. He kept telling me not to worry about it though, and even gave me a hard look when I tried to pay for half of it.

I was in the living room at the moment playing the piano. Everyone did their own thing here for the most part and that left me with a lot of free time. I spent most of my days either in my studio, in front of the piano, or with my guitar. It was very nice to be able to get some real practice in. Now that I didn't have to support myself with a medial job working nearly 60 hours a week I had plenty of time. Not to mention I could practice whenever I wanted. My studio was two floors down so I wouldn't disturb anyone and I could take my guitar down there if it was late. No one was ever in the living room during the day so I usually reserved that time for the piano.

My song was interrupted by my phone making noise. Aggravated, I sighed and checked the screen. It was a text from Peter.

_Are you busy?_

_Not terribly, just playing the piano. What's up?_

_Can you come down here? I need to talk to you._

I furrowed my brows, wondering what he could possibly need to talk about. He sounded serious though so I grabbed my wallet and hoodie before heading down to the lobby. He was waiting for me when I exited the elevator.

"What's wrong?"

"Can we go for a walk?" I nodded, but grew a little concerned. Peter wasn't this serious very often. We walked in silence for several minutes until we made it to Central Park. He sat on a bench and I followed suit.

"What's going on?" He stayed silent for a minute, contemplating his words.

"MJ…"

"What about MJ?"

"MJ wants to break up with me." My jaw dropped and I gaped like a fish. I shook my head, trying to get myself back together.

"What!? Why?" I demanded.

"She doesn't think she can handle me being Spiderman anymore. She says every time I leave to fight or save someone from a fire or anything at all, she's afraid I won't come back."

"Well that's a natural fear, she cares for you. Peter-"

"She gave me an ultimatum. Either I give up Spiderman, or she's going to leave me." I was at a loss for words. How could she do this to him? Spiderman WAS Peter. He couldn't stop being himself.

"That's such crap! Let me talk to her, maybe I can talk some sense into her. Woman to woman, I can make her understand."

"No, don't do that. I know you, Shea. You're quick to anger. If you don't like what she's saying you might snap at her. I can't have you pushing her away."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You don't trust me?" He waved his hands at me, and I stopped my rant.

"See? My point exactly. Look I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that, but you can see what I mean. You get mad easily. I just don't want that to scare her away." I sighed, crossing my arms. He was right, but I didn't like admitting it. We sat in silence, both deep in thought.

"So, what now?" I asked. He shrugged, the hurt clearly evident on his face. I checked my phone. It was 2PM on a Sunday afternoon. I needed to get his mind off of this for a while. "You know who I haven't seen in ages?" He just looked at me, waiting for the answer. "Aunt May." He finally smiled for the first time today.

"She misses you, you know."

"Does she even know I'm here?" He nodded.

"She saw you on the news. When I told her I was going to visit you the next day she told me to make sure you were alright. After you came back with us I called her."

"We should go visit her, have Sunday dinner with her like old times." I suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea." He jumped up, a new spring in his step. I smiled and stood, stretching as I did so. We walked the streets of New York until we made it to Peter's apartment. All the while we talked about all of the Sunday dinners we had as kids, as a family. We reminisced about all of the good times and ridiculous conversations we had around the dinner table. He led me to a small garage in the back and opened the door. There were a couple of cars in there along with a motorcycle Peter began pushing out.

"Since when did you get a bike?" I said jokingly.

"Since I began living in the city. It's a lot easier to get around on than a car." He climbed on the cruiser and patted the back seat.

"I'm so glad you didn't get a crotch rocket." I jabbed as I got on. We took off through the streets, making our way fairly easily out of the city. It was a lot nicer once the view became more scenic. I love motorcycles. There's nothing like feeling the open air around you and the wind on your face. It's always peaceful. The memory of the day Thor and Loki returned to Asgard popped into my head. Steve has a motorcycle! I haven't seen it since that day though. I wonder if he would take me on a ride sometime.

Reality came back to me as we slowed and pulled up in front of a house. Peter cut the engine and I climbed off first, holding onto his shoulders for balance. As we approached the steps I saw a shadow moving behind the glass door. It opened revealing an older woman who promptly brightened up at the sight of us.

"Oh my goodness! Shea, it's been so long! I've missed you so much." She said embracing me.

"I missed you too Aunt May." I said, returning the hug.

"I was hoping you would visit soon. I saw you on the news. What were you thinking! You could have been hurt! You could have been killed!"

"I love you too Aunt May." She tried to give me a disapproving look but couldn't stop the smile breaching her face.

"Peter, how are you dear?" She reached to hug him as well.

"I'm good. How are you holding up?"

"Oh I'm just fine, you know better than to worry about me. Come on! I was just about to start supper!" She ushered us inside and closed the door. The house didn't look the slightest bit different since I moved out. Everything was exactly how I had left it. "Now, why don't you kids go on and play while I cook and I'll call you when it's ready." Peter and I shared a glance. Aunt May always saw us as the same kids she took in nearly a decade ago. She left for the kitchen and Peter and I decided to go upstairs to see our old rooms. They were just as we left them as well. It seemed Aunt May wanted to leave everything in place in case we ever came back to spend a night. We goofed off for a couple of hours, going through our stuff.

"Look what I found!" Peter's head popped into my doorway, an excited look spread across his face. He was waving two foam swords we had bought a few years back as a joke. He tossed one to me and immediately pointed the other. "On guard!" I stood from my spot on the floor and got ready for battle. Peter charged me and I blocked, sending a counter swing. This went on for several minutes. He eventually decided he just wanted to wrestle instead, and jumped on me. We fell with a 'thud' and broke out in laughter.

"Hey you two! You know the rule! No rough housing inside!" Aunt May yelled up the stairs. This only served to make us laugh louder. "Now get down here you two, dinner is ready!"


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

We had dinner together just like old times. We laughed, we talked, we joked, and we reminisced. I was so glad we came out here today. We helped clean up and afterwards we all sat in the living room watching the evening news. We weren't paying attention too much as we were talking again but something on the screen caught my eye.

"Hang on guys, I wanna listen to this." They stopped talking as I turned up the volume.

"_-where just moments ago a man identified as the Green Goblin kidnapped a young woman. He is now holding her hostage in an abandoned warehouse and demanding the appearance of Spiderman." The camera panned to the warehouse where written across the wall were the words '_BRING ME SPIDERMAN_'._

I felt my face drain slightly and I glanced over at Peter to see him already looking back at me. Aunt May was too engrossed in the broadcast to notice the exchange. My phone went off in my pocket and I didn't have to look to guess who it was.

"Yes, I'm seeing this."

"_That answers one of my questions. The other is where the hell are you Cherry Bomb?"_

"I'm… with family. Why?"

"_Fury wants us to assemble and take this guy in. Give me your location and we'll swing by and pick you up." _I nervously tried to think up an excuse.

"Shouldn't we let Spiderman take care of this? That's who he wants anyways."

"_Fury wants us to pick him up too. The plan is we wait for him to arrive and grab them both. Now, where are you!?" _I frantically looked at Peter again. He was motioning for me to hurry up so we could leave. The broadcast caught my attention once more as the reporter came back with further information.

"_We have just learned that the hostage is a young actress by the name of Mary Jane Watson. Authorities…" _My body ran cold. He took MJ. I suddenly had a clear head as determination took over me. A voice in my ear snapped me back to attention.

"_Cherry Bomb? Helllooooo are you still there?"_

"Tony? I'll meet you there." I snapped my phone shut not giving him a chance to argue and leapt up off the couch.

"Sorry Aunt May, we have to go." Peter said, standing with me.

"Wait, you can't go out there! It's too dangerous!"

"It's MJ Aunt May! I can't just sit here while she's in trouble! Gotta go, love you!" He shouted, running out the door so she couldn't argue.

"Sorry, we have to go." I bent down, leaving a kiss on her cheek. "We'll come back next Sunday, okay?" With that I followed Peter out the door. He was already on the bike and had it started by the time I made it out, and the second I climbed on behind him we took off. We rode much faster this time, Peter ignoring the speed limits. We wove through traffic and made it to his apartment in record time where he threw on his suit.

"Pete, before we take off, there's something you should know. Director Fury has ordered us to take both you and the Green Goblin in. I'm not entirely sure what he wants with you, but The Avengers will be there. That's why Tony called me. I told them I would meet them there but they don't know who you are. I intend to keep it that way." I reassured him.

"What will we do about them then? It's going to be hard to fight all of them off."

"I'll try and keep them off your tail as long as possible. Keep them focused on the Goblin while you rescue MJ. Then you can make a getaway as soon as you have her." He nodded at my plan before climbing out onto the tiny balcony.

"Ready?" He asked, and at my nod he wrapped an arm around me and jumped. My heart jumped into my throat for a second until he shot a web, swinging from building to building. After I got over the initial shock, I began having fun. This was the first time I had ever actually gone swinging around the city with Peter and it was exhilarating. We quickly made it to the scene, where I could see the rest of my team had already made it. They were stationed at various spots throughout the scene and I knew there was no way we could land without at least one of them seeing us together. I'd have to bite the bullet and deal with their 3rd degree later. We landed together on the roof of the warehouse and my eyes met with Nat. She questioned me with her gaze and I told her telepathically that I'd tell her later.

I heard a maniacal laugh and whipped around to see the Goblin zooming up behind us on some sort of hover board.

"So glad you could join me Spiderman!"

"Where is she!?" He demanded, to which the Green Goblin just laughed.

"Don't worry she's safe, for now. She's locked up nice and tight."He made to fly away but Peter slung a web at his board. The effect was something very similar to pulling a rug out from under someone. He flipped twice in the air and crashed face first onto the concrete roof.

"Go find her, I'll try and keep the team out here." I whispered. Tony flew down from wherever he was hiding and I nudged him to leave.

"What about you? They saw us swing in together; they know you know me now."

"We can worry about that later. Go find her!" I shoved him in the direction of the rooftop door and this time he didn't argue. I faced the Goblin who was getting back to his feet.

"What's this? Spiderman brought his friends! This will be fun!"

"Actually, I don't know that guy. We just happened to be passing by and thought, 'Hey, this looks like fun!'" Tony retorted. Out of the corner of my eye I found Clint on a rooftop ready to strike, and Nat was creeping behind an old water tower in the middle of the warehouse roof. I found no signs of Bruce or Thor, but my eye finally caught Steve leaping across rooftops towards us.

"No matter, I'll finish all of you!" He ran for his hover board and I threw him back with an energy blast. Steve landed on the warehouse roof in full spangles and ran over to us.

"Are you okay?" He fretted, gently grabbing my arm.

"Yeah, of course."

"Okay guys, let's split up. Hawkeye and I will stay up here with the Garden Gnome. Widow and Cap go after Spidey. You." He pointed to me. "You've got some explaining to do missy." I smiled awkwardly and darted off after Peter to get a head start. Hopefully I could make it to him and get him out of here before they caught him.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

I ran through the labyrinth of crates and boxes that filled the old warehouse. I had no idea where to start finding Peter and I had hoped he would make some sort of noise soon. Nat and Steve couldn't be that far behind either. I banked around another stack of crates and found a door ajar. Hoping Peter was the one that opened it, I ran in shutting it silently behind me.

"Shit." I flicked on the lights and was met with a tiny office space. No Peter or MJ. I took a few deep breaths and centered myself. Where would Peter look? I face palmed. In my mad rush to beat them down here I forgot I had superpowers. The tendrils of my mind reached out around the building.

'_Peter! Where are you?'_

'_Shea? I can't find her!'_

'_Listen to me. Steve and Nat followed me in here, they're looking for YOU. I'll help look for MJ; you focus on staying away from them!'_

'_I'm not going to stop looking!'_

'_I'm not asking you to do that, I'm asking you to make evasion your top priority. Watch out for Nat, she's a professional spy. Keep eyes and ears peeled.'_

'_Got it.'_

With that I shut off the lights and exited quietly, leaving the connection open in case he needed backup. I wasn't okay with having to sneak behind everyone's backs like this, but Peter had a right to his privacy. SHIELD doesn't have any right to expose his identity, or put him in a file. These things were all his choice. I darted from room to room looking for signs of life, all the while keeping my mind open to my friend's thoughts. I slipped into both of their minds listening for any signs that they had found him.

'_Gotcha.' _Nat's voice rang through my head. Oh no.

'_Pete! Nat's got eyes on you! Wherever you are, RUN!' _I got no response and hoped he listened. This warehouse was huge and it could take a long time to find her. I could hear faint signs of a struggle and became frantic. Nat could take him down easily if he didn't get away from her.

'_Get away from her! Now! She will take you down Peter!' _Out of my peripheral I saw a web shoot to one of the ceiling beams and like a slingshot, he flew through the air. Then he just HAD to taunt her.

"Nana nana nana you can't catch me!" A gun went off and the bullet tinked on the beam dangerously close to his head. This was escalating quickly. He took off swinging and a trail of bullets followed closely behind. I had to find MJ now and get both of them out of here. I full on sprinted down a side hall I hadn't been down yet and an anomaly in the flooring caught my eye. Faint cracks in the shape of a rectangle. As I got closer I saw the metal ring that was utilized as a handle and flipped it up, pulling. The floor was concrete so the door was incredibly heavy. I was struggling severely. I opened it enough to wedge my foot inside, but thought against it. If I lost grip on this door I would be down one foot. I went for a different tactic and kneeled down, trying to get more leverage. I pushed up on the door and it suddenly lifted with ease. An extra pair of hands were next to mine. I looked over my shoulder at my spangly boyfriend.

"Thanks." He pushed it the rest of the way over like it was paper.

"Anytime. What are you doing?"

"We have to find her." I darted down the stairwell. It was dimly lit but led to a basement that spanned the entire warehouse. Steve followed close behind.

"Wait. We need to apprehend the criminals first. We can find her-"

"Did you not hear the news? She is being held hostage! You of all people should know how it feels to want to save a friend!" He gave me an odd look like he didn't understand who I was talking about. "He took MJ, Peter's girlfriend. I'm not going anywhere until I find her." Realization dawned on his face as he remembered the meeting in front of Shawarma. I moved further into the basement and realized there were far fewer things taking up space than upstairs. I swiftly weaved around a few stacks of boxes and old equipment. There in the center of the dim room was MJ tied to a chair.

"Shea! Thank god! I was so scared no one would find me!" I ran over and began working at the knots behind her. I needed to find a way to communicate to her that it was not okay to associate Pete and Spiderman in front of Steve.

"Peter's worried about you."

"Is he here?" She asked, turning her head to see me better.

"No, but Spiderman is. He will take you back to him." I hinted. She paused for a second and nodded slightly. I loosened her enough that she could wiggle out and we all darted for the steps. The warehouse was now silent and I feared the worst as we ran for the door. Of course being abandoned, it was locked.

"Step back ladies." Steve motioned us to the side. We did as requested and he lifted up his booted foot, kicking out the door. That was incredibly hot. Too bad I couldn't dwell on it right now, I had unfinished business. Once on the sidewalk we looked around for everyone. Tony was chasing the Green Goblin around the skies as Clint was shooting arrows at him. Unfortunately he was a decent flyer and was managing to dodge them while holding Tony off.

"Ma'am, we need to get you to safety."

"I'll take care of it. Help them catch that guy; he looks like more trouble than we thought." He nodded, looking at me as if he wanted to not leave my side. He settled for a couple of choice words instead.

"Be careful." With that he ran off towards the fight. I walked MJ towards the back of the building as I looked for Pete in the air. He and the assassin were nowhere to be seen.

Now was as good a time as ever.

"So, you don't like Peter being Spiderman." She stayed silent for a moment. We found the fire escape and began to climb.

"It's not that I don't like it, I do. I mean, I don't but… It's terrifying. Constantly worrying that he's going to get hurt, knowing there's nothing I can do about it, wondering if the next time will be the last I see him." She took a deep breath.

"MJ, say you do break up with him. Do you really think that will stop you from worrying just as much?" She didn't respond as we climbed over the edge of the roof.

'_Where are you? I've got MJ on the roof. Come pick her up and get the hell out of here!'_

'_On my way!'_

"Look, I'm not saying it's easy being a superhero's girlfriend. I would know." I looked down at the street where Steve threw his shield like a frisbee, successfully knocking the Goblin off his board. He crashed into the street below where he didn't move. She followed my gaze to the hunk of liberty that was my boyfriend and her eyes widened slightly. "I'm only saying ending your relationship won't help anything. Talk to Peter and tell him how you feel." I saw Peter swinging in from behind her. "Your ride is here." She looked behind her as he landed. "Just think about it. Okay?" She nodded as Peter approached and wrapped an arm around her. "Get out of here, both of you. I'll deal with them."

"Thanks." Peter said. He shot another web onto a nearby building and off they went. Back on the street below the rest of The Avengers were apprehending the Green Goblin. I made my way back down towards them as Nat appeared and did the same. Steve kept a hold on greeny while Tony acknowledged my return.

"Cherry Bomb, you've got some 'splaining to do."


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: So obviously I took a little hiatus. I wanted a little break from writing. That being said I'm glad I didn't lose my readers, and thank you for the marvelous reviews. You have no idea how happy I am when I get a new one. The last chapter was a bit difficult to write because I'm not so good with fight scenes, but this one is going to be incredibly fun. Sarcasm, defiance, and comedy are my fortes so expect plenty of that this chapter.**

**Chapter 27**

Now was the moment I had been dreading. They are going to try and interrogate me ruthlessly until I give up Spiderman's identity. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure they're going to be upset that I kept this from them and let him escape.

We all sat in a conference room back in Avengers Tower; the one Tony created for us when he remodeled. Everyone was looking at me with confusion, anger, or both. Not a word was spoken until Fury entered, and it was clear he was frustrated.

"The Green Goblin is in transit to one of our maximum security facilities as we speak. Now to the more pressing matter at hand: Shea, would you care to explain yourself to your entire team?" The sneer in his tone would have made almost anyone flinch, but I stood my ground.

Well, sat.

"Nope." I shrugged, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. This fueled the director closer to his namesake as he glared me down. I wasn't trying to play this game this time, I promise. However he was practically letting me anger him. He wasn't even trying to hide it. It was like an addiction, so I decided it was time to play _push-Fury's-buttons._

"It wasn't a request, Agent Farrelly. What the hell was that back there?" His voice rose as he spoke, anger ready to boil over.

"What was what? You're going to have to be a little more specific because there was a lot going on-"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Half the people at the table jumped when his fists met the table. The need to protect Peter was greater than my fear of being disciplined though, and I didn't even flinch.

"Isn't it funny that you didn't want us to pick you up, and twenty minutes later you show up with one of the targets? So what, you just met on the way and said, 'Hey! I need to capture you! Could you give me a lift so I can grab the other guy too?'" I rolled my eyes at Tony's idiotic remark.

"You know him. That much we're sure of. What we're unsure of is why you disobeyed orders and let him go!" Fury was yelling now. I snapped and stood swiftly.

"Because you have no right to capture him! He's a good guy he's just trying to protect the city!"

"He is a threat to the safety of the people and us!"

"He is not a threat!"

"His vigilante acts are attracting higher forms of enemies, and people will begin to blame us thinking we're responsible for him!" My palms met the table with such force it sent a stinging sensation through them.

"OUR vigilante acts attract enemies! Were you asleep during the whole Loki and Chitauri invasion!? That was YOUR fault! If you hadn't been thinking about making advanced weaponry with the Tesseract they would have looked elsewhere for their power and Loki would have never been sent here! No! Let me go!" I ripped my arm out of Steve's grasp as he was trying to calm me down. "You just need to have absolute power at all times and you can't stand the thought of someone out there taking an ounce of that away from you! All you want him for is to make him another one of your pawns! A weapon, just like us! Because that's all we are to you, weapons!" I took deep breaths as Steve's hand found a place on my arm again.

"You're right. I do know who he is, and I won't tell you. He has his right to privacy. He knows you're looking for him now, and it's his choice if he wants to come to you or not. I'm not going to betray him so you can add to your collection." Everyone had been stunned into silence by my outburst, including the director. I took that chance to leave before they could come around.

#

I was laying on my bed listening to music. I was still angry about the events of earlier, so it was headphones in – world out. I had the volume up pretty high so I wouldn't be able to hear anyone should they try to knock or talk to me. I was face down into the pillows, completely blocking out everything but the sounds of Motograter filtering through my ears. So it's natural that I about jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand on my back. I flipped over ready to yell at the intruder until I met Steve's baby blues. Forcing myself to calm down, I removed my earbuds and stopped the music.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "I knocked and called your name a few times but you didn't answer, so I let myself in. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah, I was just trying to ignore everyone." I replied, moving to sit next to him. Things were silent for a minute or so until Steve piped in again.

"I think it was very honorable what you did, not revealing his identity. You're a trustworthy person."

"You do? So you agree with me then?"

"Sort of… We had orders, and we should always follow them no matter what." I gave him a smirk and pushed his shoulder gently.

"Always following the rules." I chided. We were silent a moment longer before he stood and extended his and.

"Wanna get out of here?" I smiled slightly and grabbed his hand, letting him lead me away from this place.

#

We ended up in front of a dance club with an old school vibe to it. I looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Tony helped me find it. The place fills with usually older people but I figured it would be fun. I never really had the chance to go dancing before…" He trailed off. My heart sank a little at his momentary sad expression.

"Well if it's dancing you want, then it's dancing you shall get." I dragged him through the doors and we took in our surroundings. He was right; it was mostly older couples and groups throughout the place. There were a few younger looking people dispersed throughout. There was a live band on the stage playing a jazz number and a group of dancers on the dance floor. We shared a look between us before shrugging and making our way to the dance floor.

"All right you guys we're gonna take it back, so grab your partner and let's swing!" The vocalist announced. Steve's face lit up and he practically dragged me to the middle of the floor.

"I know this song!" He said excitedly. His joy was infectious and the smile on my face grew.

"Wait!" I suddenly remembered. "I don't know how to swing dance." He shook his head at me with a chuckle.

"I thought you were a dancer?" He teased. The glare I gave him only made him laugh more.

"That doesn't mean I know EVERY style of dance, yet."

"Here, I'll teach you." He grabbed my hand and my waist and guided me through the music. I had to admit, it was very fun. Then again dancing is a passion so it was no brainer I would enjoy it. After the first song I became more comfortable. I caught on quickly and was dancing like a pro in no time.

We danced for hours, and I even taught him a few styles that didn't come around until the 50s and 60s. We left laughing and joking, and were in high spirits the rest of the walk home. As we entered the lobby elevator JARVIS greeted us.

"Good evening Captain Rogers, Ms. Farrelly. Ms. Farrelly, the director requests your presence in the meeting room immediately." I growled lightly under my breath. Fury was the last person I wanted to see right now.

"Sorry JARVIS, but I have no intentions on seeing One Eyed Willy right now." I punched the button for our floor but it didn't light up. "JARVIS, floor 47 please."

"I'm afraid I can't do that Ms. Farrelly. I am under strict orders to take you straight to the director." I growled again and began pressing all of the buttons, including the door open. I just wanted to get far away from that man. I would climb the stairs the rest of the way if I had to. "I'm sorry miss, I've disabled the control panel. My commands were overwritten."

"Tony." I grumbled. I knew he was still mad at me for keeping a secret and betraying him. This is just the kind of thing he would do to get revenge. The doors dinged open to Fury standing immediately on the other side.

"Since you don't want to volunteer the information we desire, you've forced my hand. We will be taking it by force." He stepped to the side and directly behind him was a tall woman I had never seen before in a black skirt and suit jacket, SHIELD ID badge hanging from her neck.


End file.
